With all the speculation about whether he'd be traded now in the past, Tyson Ross hopes to get back to the business of helping the San Diego Padres win ballgames.
The right-hander looks to win a career-high fourth straight road decision as San Diego tries to bounce back with its eighth win in 10 games Monday night against the NL Central-worst Milwaukee Brewers.
Ross (7-8, 3.38 ERA) was one of several Padres rumored to be on the move ahead of Friday's trade deadline. In what many believed was his last with the club, he allowed one run and two hits over five innings in Wednesday's 7-3 road win over the New York Mets.
But with San Diego (51-54) in the midst of a 7-2 stretch, general manager A.J. Preller opted to give the squad he put together in the offseason more time. The Padres are 6 1/2 games back of a wild card spot after their four-game winning streak ended in Sunday's 5-2 loss at Miami.
"I think the fact that the team has played better, that made it a little easier to kind of stay pat and add a guy (left-handed reliever Marc Rzepczynski from Cleveland) and go from there," Preller explained.
Now Ross will try to help San Diego get back on track in the opener of this four-game series at Miller Park. He improved to 4-1 with a 2.49 ERA over his last eight starts, but has raised his MLB-high walk total to 61 after issuing four free passes at Citi Field.
The 28-year-old is expected to be ready to go despite being pulled after 83 pitches when his quad stiffened up after he was hit in the leg by a comebacker in the fourth inning.
Ross has gone 1-1 with a 4.50 mark in his two career outings at Miller Park. Adam Lind has gone 3 for 3 with a home run off him, while Khris Davis is 3 for 4 with a homer.
The Brewers (44-62) haven't been able to get much going offensively, hitting .200 with one homer while totaling 15 runs during a 1-8 stretch. After batting .182 in his previous 10 games, Ryan Braun had three of the team's eight hits in Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs.
"You need that next hit to break it open and take a deep breath," manager Craig Counsell said.
Wily Peralta (2-5, 3.90) will try to help Milwaukee avoid a sixth straight defeat in his second start after spending more than two months on the disabled list with a left oblique strain.
The right-hander had a promising return Tuesday when he blanked San Francisco through six innings before allowing two runs and five hits over six-plus in a 5-2 road victory.
In his only start against the Padres, Peralta gave up two earned runs over 6 1-3 innings in a 4-3 home win in April 2014.
San Diego's Alexi Amarista hit a tying two-run home run in the ninth inning Sunday before Brandon Maurer gave up a three-run shot in the bottom half.
"There's no silver lining in this one," interim manager Pat Murphy said.
Yangervis Solarte had two hits, raising his average to .412 over an eight-game hitting streak. Matt Kemp is batting .347 over his last 20 games and owns a 14-game hitting streak at Miller Park.
The teams split six meetings last season with the Brewers taking two of three at home.
