D-backs' Jose Cabrera bids to test mettle vs. Brewers

Right-hander Jose Cabrera is scheduled to make his third major league start for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers in Phoenix.

Cabrera (0-1, 3.60 ERA) made his second MLB start last Saturday and took the loss after allowing four runs and seven hits in five innings of a 4-2 defeat at the Tampa Bay Rays.

After surrendering a first-inning home run to Junior Caminero, Cabrera blanked the Rays until Jonathan Aranda's two-out, two-run homer in the fifth.

Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said he was hesitant to let Cabrera face the top of the order for a third time, but he thought Cabrera earned the opportunity.

"Those are little things that we've got to figure out," Lovullo said. "But overall, he attacked the zone against a team that doesn't strike out a lot. They're going to put the ball in play, and he was doing a good job.

"He's been a very pleasant surprise for us. This is a kid that was in Double-A a month ago -- or even less -- maybe three weeks ago, and now he's pitching [in] the big leagues in meaningful games. He's going to continue to get the ball."

Cabrera, 24, served notice he was ready to face the best hitters when he fired five shutout innings in his major league debut on June 21 in his team's 4-2 loss against the visiting Minnesota Twins.

"That's just my mindset -- attack, attack, attack," Cabrera said. "It doesn't matter what happened, I just want to keep going and do whatever I have to do to keep following the plan I've got with my catcher."

Arizona is coming off a 6-4 loss against the visiting San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night, which prevented the Diamondbacks from starting 9-0 against their National League West rivals this season.

The Brewers, meanwhile, were foiled in their bid for a four-game home sweep of the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday afternoon before they left for an 11-game road trip. Milwaukee fell 7-2 to Cincinnati in the series finale.

The Brewers on Friday will start left-hander Kyle Harrison (8-1, 2.57 ERA), who has won seven straight decisions but has gone without a decision in his past two outings.

Harrison most recently allowed two runs and three hits in five innings of his team's 8-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.

Harrison retired the first 10 batters before Matt Shaw singled with one out in the fourth inning. Harrison said he wanted to come out for the sixth with the score 2-2 but was removed after 92 pitches.

"I was upset I couldn't really go out for the sixth," Harrison said. "(The Cubs) grinded some tough at-bats, and I was executing some pitches and they were fouling it off."

After the bullpen gates opened, Chicago got to the Milwaukee relievers for six runs.

"I know it's cliche to say, but you ‘flush it,'" Harrison said. "At the end of the day, those guys are great down there, and we're just going to keep pumping them up with confidence."

Harrison has faced Arizona four times in his career, including three starts, and is 0-2 with an 8.56 ERA. He last went against the Diamondbacks when he threw an inning of shutout relief against them last season as a member of the Giants.

--Field Level Media