(Photo credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images)

The Milwaukee Brewers will look to improve on their MLB-best record when they welcome the Minnesota Twins for a three-game series that starts Friday night.

The Brewers (72-43) have won three straight games and five of their past seven, scoring a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday afternoon in the debut of recently acquired starting pitcher Dustin May.

Minnesota, meanwhile, snapped a four-game losing streak in dramatic fashion, scoring three times in the eighth inning at Kansas City to edge the Royals 4-3.

Brooks Lee's two-run single put the Twins ahead for good. Before Minnesota's victory, Royals had held the Twins to three runs over the first two games of the series. Lee, who was hitless in his 13 at-bats prior to the clutch hit, told The Minnesota Star Tribune that the game can wear on a team.

'It's going to beat you down,' the switch hitter said. 'I feel like it's been beating us down, but luckily we scraped away with a win.'

That's not the only way the Twins -- a half-game back of the Texas Rangers for the final American League wild-card spot and three games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central -- have been beaten down. Byron Buxton is eligible to come off the 10-day injured list this weekend, but multiple outlets reported that the All-Star outfielder's hip issue will keep him out a bit longer.

And in other injury news, starting pitcher Joe Ryan -- like Buxton, a 2026 All-Star -- likely will be placed on the IL after tests revealed a strained left glute, which is expected to keep him out for a couple of weeks.

Twins right-hander Zebby Matthews (4-8, 5.22 ERA), whom the team sent down to St. Paul last Saturday, was scratched from his start Friday with the Triple-A team and will start Friday for Minnesota.

Matthews has made one career start against the Brewers, who tagged him for four runs on five hits and three walks in a 5-2 Milwaukee home win on May 18, 2025. Before his demotion last week, Matthews was 0-3 in his past five starts, with a 7.66 ERA in 24 2/3 innings.

Rookie Shane Drohan (6-4, 3.48 ERA) will start for the Brewers and will face the Twins for the first time. The left-hander last pitched a week ago, earning the win in a 6-2 road game against the Los Angeles Angels. He gave up two runs on four hits and a walk over six innings while recording seven strikeouts.

Catcher Gary Sanchez lifted the Brewers to victory Thursday, a couple of days after the team decided to keep him at the trade deadline. He went 2-for-3 with a solo home run that put Milwaukee ahead for good in the fifth inning.

It was the first game for Sanchez since July 29, his first homer since June 28, and his first multi-hit game since June 10. Manager Pat Murphy told reporters that Sanchez also has made a valuable contribution in the locker room this season despite not being an everyday player.

'Everybody loves him because he's so real,' Murphy said.

Milwaukee could see Jake Bauers return to the lineup this weekend. The team's home run leader with 20, he last played on Monday due to an abdominal injury, but Murphy said Bauers could have pinch hit, if needed, on Thursday.

--Field Level Media