Milwaukee @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 26, 2013 ) Milwaukee 5, LA Dodgers 7

The Los Angeles Dodgers can get back over .500 with a victory Saturday against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers in the second meeting of their three-game series. The Dodgers were 7-4 on April 13 but lost six straight games. They appear to have regained their footing, though, after winning four of their last five. The Brewers, meanwhile, have lost two in a row after winning nine straight.

The trade that brought Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and left fielder Carl Crawford from the Boston Red Sox last summer is paying big dividends this spring. Gonzalez had two hits and two RBIs in Friday’s 7-5 victory over Milwaukee to boost his batting average to a team-high .363. Crawford had two hits and two runs scored to bump his batting average to .316. The Brewers have to be happy with what their getting from shortstop Jean Segura, who was traded from the Los Angeles Angels to Milwaukee for right-hander Zack Greinke last summer. He’s hitting .359 with 10 multi-hit games this season.

TV: 9:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, Fox Sports Wisconsin (Milwaukee), Fox Sports Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers RH Wily Peralta (1-1, 5.16 ERA) vs. Dodgers RH Stephen Fife (0-0, 7.71).

Peralta might have the best arm on the Milwaukee staff, but the 23-year-old Dominican is still feeling his way around the major leagues. In his first career appearance against the Dodgers, he’ll be trying to build off his last start, when he allowed two runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings of a 4-2 victory against the Chicago Cubs, earning his third major-league victory. His other quality start this season also came against the light-hitting Cubs. He wasn’t as successful against the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies, who own two of the top six team batting averages in the major leagues.

Fife will make his second start this season in place of Chad Billingsley, who underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this week. Fife went 0-2 in five starts with the Dodgers last season, despite posting a 2.70 ERA in 26 2/3 innings. He got off to a rocky start in his season debut Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles, throwing 35 pitches and giving up three runs in the first inning. He stuck around for 4 2/3 innings, allowing four runs and seven hits but finished one out short of qualifying for his first major league victory in a game won by the Dodgers 7-4.

WALK-OFFS

1. Dodgers 2B Mark Ellis left Friday’s victory with a strained right quad and could be out an extended time. He has missed at least 30 games because of injury every year since 2007

2. Dodgers OF Matt Kemp, a two-time Gold Glove winner, has committed four errors this season after combining for six the last two seasons.

3. Brewers 2B Rickie Weeks has one hit in his last 22 at-bats.

PREDICTION: Brewers 7, Dodgers 6