San Francisco @ Milwaukee preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 29, 2010 ) San Francisco 8, Milwaukee 6

The Milwaukee Brewers are all but out of the NL Central pennant race even before the All-Star break.

It hasn’t stopped Corey Hart from showing up at the field every day and putting up huge numbers.

Hart, who was just named to his second All-Star Game, may be licking his chops at the prospect of facing a tired San Francisco Giants’ bullpen.

Hart looks to extend his 19-game hitting streak on Monday when the Brewers host the Giants, who have a quick turnaround following a marathon loss to the Colorado Rockies.

Milwaukee has reached the playoffs just twice in the past 27 seasons, and despite Hart’s best efforts, doesn’t appear to be headed for October this season.

Milwaukee is currently 9 1/2 games out of first place following Sunday’s 7-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. The lone run in that game came courtesy of a solo homer from Hart, who has been one of the hottest hitters in the game.

The seven-year veteran is batting .358 (29-for-81) with two homers and 19 RBIs during his hitting streak. Furthermore, Hart has 16 homers and 49 RBIs since May 19.

His efforts have fallen by the wayside, though. The Brewers are a long shot to even make a wild card run because of their porous pitching staff, which has the fourth-worst ERA (4.83) in the majors.

Dave Bush (3-6, 4.43 ERA), however, has been the exception to the rule lately. The right-hander is 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA in his last three starts. Bush's only loss in that span came on Wednesday, when he allowed two runs and five hits in six innings of a 5-1 setback to the Houston Astros.

Bush is 1-2 with a 4.75 ERA in six starts against the Giants, who lost 4-3 in 15 innings to Colorado on Sunday.

San Francisco went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position during the 5-hour, 24-minute marathon. It was the Giants’ eighth loss in their last 10 games.

An inconsistent offense has been the problem lately. The Giants scored 11 runs on Saturday, but take away that contest and they are averaging less than three runs over the other eight games.

The slump has dropped them 7 1/2 games out of the NL West.

Jonathan Sanchez (6-6, 3.26) gets the ball for the Giants, who are 1-3 on an 11-game road trip. Sanchez allowed four earned runs and six hits in five innings of an 8-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday.

He is 0-1 with an 8.31 ERA in eight games – four starts- against Milwaukee.

This is the first meeting of the season between the teams. San Francisco went 5-4 against Milwaukee last season.