Brewers, Braves have hurlers back from injury, suspension

Two pitchers sidelined for different reasons will square off when the visiting Milwaukee Brewers play the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.

Atlanta will send right-hander Kevin Gausman (2-3, 4.50) against Milwaukee right-hander Chase Anderson (2-0, 3.20) in the second game of a three-game series. The Braves won the series opener 12-8 on Friday.

Gausman is making his first start since serving a five-game suspension for throwing at Miami pitcher Jose Urena last month. Gausman was apparently retaliating for Urena's plunking of then-rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. last season.

Anderson will make his first start since he was placed on the 10-day injured list on May 1 with a right middle finger laceration.

Gausman originally planned to appeal his suspension, but he dropped it last week after beating Arizona on May 11. In that game, he gave up one run over six innings and struck out six.

"Usually there's one or two, sometimes three, times in a game that determine how your start is," said Gausman, who had not pitched six innings since his last start against the Diamondbacks on April 17, when he went seven innings.

"I just tried to bear down and throw my best pitches in those situations. I think I threw enough strikes to where they were aggressive enough that I could throw my off-speed and not have to worry about throwing it for a strike."

This will be Gausman's ninth start of the season and his first at home since April 28. He is 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA in one career start against the Brewers. He pitched eight innings and gave up one run against Milwaukee last season after he joined the Braves via a trade from Baltimore.

Anderson will make his eighth appearance of the season and his third start. His last start came April 26 at New York, and he received no decision in the 10-2 win over the Mets. He pitched 4 2/3 innings and allowed two runs on five hits and three walks.

Anderson made his first five appearances of the season out of the bullpen, going 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA. Opponents are batting only .216 against him.

He has made four previous starts against the Braves and is 2-0 with a 4.84 ERA.

Both pitchers will have to deal with some hot hitters. Atlanta scored 12 runs on Friday and has put together back-to-back double-digit games. The Braves hit four homers in the series opener, one of them by Freddie Freeman, who has 198 for his career.

The Brewers scored all eight of their runs in the final three innings on Friday, a loss that broke a three-game winning streak. Milwaukee has totaled 30 runs in its last four games.

Among the notables on Friday was catcher Jacob Nottingham, who had been recalled from Triple-A San Antonio on Wednesday to back up Yasmani Grandal. Nottingham hit his first career homer and drove in four runs on Friday.

"We're going to lean on Yasmani here in this stretch," Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said. "But Jacob's familiarity and defensively, I think he's done a solid job each time he's been here."

In a roster move, the Braves were able to outright left-hander Jerry Blevins to Triple-A Gwinnett after he was designated for assignment. Blevins made six appearances for Atlanta and allowed four runs in 3 1/3 innings.

--Field Level Media

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