Play to the very end like every game matters!

fter a much-needed off-day, Ben Sheets and the Brewers return to action on Friday night for the opener of a three-game series against the Astros at Miller Park.

Sheets is aiming for his first win over the Astros this season after going 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA in two previous starts. He is scheduled to face fellow right-hander Roy Oswalt, who is 1-0 with a 4.61 ERA this year in two starts against Milwaukee, both of which were Houston wins.

Sheets is 3-3 with a 3.71 ERA in eight starts since missing two months with a right shoulder injury. He has pitched exactly seven innings in each of his past five starts since leaving an Aug. 5 start at St. Louis with tightness in his pectoral muscle, and is 2-2 in those games.

The right-hander has gone back to his fastball-curveball combination with an occasional changeup, putting on hold suggestions from coaches to continue working on a "cut" fastball. Sheets declined the notion that he and the team's coaching staff are at odds on that issue.

"No, not at all," he insisted. "I kind of read that. All they want me to do is have that weapon. I ain't totally abandoning that pitch; there's times I still might throw it. They just want me to be prepared. It's just hard to get in a rhythm out there with it."

Manager Ned Yost said earlier this week that he's still holding out hope for another .500 finish, but the Brewers would have to get on a hot streak to do so. They are 12 games under .500 with 22 games to play, and Yost insisted that motivation is not the reason his club has lost 11 of its past 13 games.

"You sign up for a 162-game season, and you'd better give everything you've got for 162 games," Yost said. "You're supposed to be motivated from within. If they have to rely on me to motivate them every day, what kind of player are they going to be?"

Pitching matchup
MIL: RHP Ben Sheets (4-6. 4.54 ERA)
Entered the year with a 7-8 career September record but a solid 3.23 ERA.

HOU: RHP Roy Oswalt (11-8, 3.12 ERA)
Was brilliant in his last start on Sept. 3, no-hitting the Mets through six frames and ending his outing with a three-hitter through 7 2/3 innings.

Player to watch
Brewers outfielder Corey Hart is hitting .367 (11-for-30) in seven games against the Astros this season with two home runs and four RBIs. His OPS (on-base plus slugging percentages) in those games is a solid 1.020.