WASHINGTON — pursuit of a playoff spot by concluding a three-game series with the Washington Nationals on Sunday.The Brewers led the Nationals 3-1 in the eighth inning Saturday but ended up on the wrong end of a 5-4 decision in a game that was delayed nearly two hours by rain and ended well past midnight.The Nationals mounted a two-out rally against reliever Joakim Soria and Juan Soto and capped it with a two-run single against Dan Jennings with Milwaukee closer Josh Hader unavailable.Article continues below ...With a win Matt Carpenter Jersey , the Brewers (76-61) would have moved into the top wild-card spot in the National League.“I think we’ll be fine,” Milwaukee starter Chase Anderson said after giving up one run in five innings. “I know how we respond to things. Our bullpen’s picked up the starters a lot this year. Just gotta pick those guys up.”Soto had three hits to raise his average to .301 and Washington (68-68) climbed back to .500 as it tries to stay in the playoff picture.Adam Eaton started the rally with a two-out double, Trea Turner singled him home, and Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon walked to set up Soto.“It’s a testament to the boys. They don’t quit,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “They wanted to get back out there and play. They got the field ready. Stopped raining for us. We were able to come back and get a big win.”Milwaukee right-hander Junior Guerra (6-9, 4.09) opposes rookie right-hander Jefry Rodriguez (2-1, 4.54) in Sunday’s rubber game.Guerra is 0-4 with a 7.28 ERA in his last eight starts. He has allowed six earned runs in two of his last three starts. Last time out he only lasted 1 1/3 innings, allowing six runs and eight hits.Brewers manager Craig Counsell said the team did not consider skipping Guerra in the rotation.“We feel like Junior has pitched well for us this year,” Counsell said. “I won’t tell you his last start was a good start. I will tell you the starts before that were much better than they looked. There’s a lot of indicators that say those were not bad starts, they were bad luck.“I think that’s why Junior’s getting the ball still. We still believe he’s throwing the ball well.”Guerra is 1-0 with a 1.88 ERA in three games (two starts) versus the Nationals.Meanwhile, Counsell said newly acquired Gio Gonzalez won’t start a game in the Brewers’ next series against the Chicago Cubs but will be available in the bullpen.“He’s gonna get outs for us,” Counsell said. “He will play a role in this team going down the stretch. We made the trade and I’m glad we have him.”Rodriguez has a 1.69 ERA in his last three starts. Last time out he threw six shutout innings, allowing two hits and four walks, as the Nationals pulled way late for a 15-0 win over the New York Mets when they scored 14 times in the final two innings.“I think the biggest difference there is http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-marcell-ozuna-jersey , before, I used to like to just battle with my fastball a lot,” he told MASN.com.“Now I’m mixing in my pitches more … using my off-speed more and getting more comfortable and confident with those off-speed pitches.”He’s making his first start against Milwaukee.Nationals catcher Matt Wieters is dealing with a hip/groin issue that has bothered him since Washington’s series in Philadelphia earlier this week. He didn’t start, but pinch hit in the eighth inning.Washington right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (right hamstring strain) threw a bullpen session Saturday. SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Carson Kelly and Luke Weaver will always been known as the other players in the Paul Goldschmidt trade. No matter what they do for the rest of their careers, good or bad, they will be linked to the Arizona Diamondbacks‘ fan-favorite first baseman.But the Diamondbacks do not consider them replacements for Goldschmidt.Goldschmidt was one of the best players in baseball during his eight seasons in Arizona, so matching his production would be difficult. Plus, Kelly is a catcher and Weaver a right-handed starting pitcher.The Diamondbacks just want them to be the best versions of themselves they can be.“When they were traded over, those were the first conversations that I began to have with them about just being themselves, embracing the organization the way we’re embracing them,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “We chose them for a reason: because they’re very special players.”Both are looking forward to a fresh start.For Kelly, the trade should mean an opportunity for more playing time.He’s in a competition with Alex Avila, John Paul Murphy and Caleb Joseph to be part of Arizona’s three-man catcher rotation Lou Brock Jersey , but should get more playing time than he did with the Cardinals.A converted third baseman, the 23-year-old Kelly was considered a top prospect and the catcher of the future in St. Louis, but never got a realistic shot in the majors with Yadier Molina blocking the plate.Molina is still going strong at 36 and last year signed a contract extension through 2020, which likely would have meant two more seasons of waiting for Kelly.“Yadi might play another 100 years. You never know,” Kelly said with a laugh. “The guy’s incredible in his preparation and I’ve learned so much from him, but this is my opportunity to go out and continue to grow here.”With Molina entrenched, Kelly spent most of the past three seasons in the minors. When Kelly did get big-league opportunities, he didn’t know when they would come or how long they would last.The small windows led Kelly to press, which rarely works out well in baseball. As a result, he’s hit .154 with no homers and 10 RBIs in 63 major-league games.“You want to go out there and, ‘Oh, I’m going to get three hits and do all these great things,’ and you go out there and try to do too much, which as baseball players know Ken Boyer Jersey , is one of the worst possible things you can do,” said Kelly, who hit .289 across two minor-league levels last year. “I think here will be a new learning experience for me and a new chapter in my book.”Weaver has a solid 2017 season, going 7-2 with a 3.38 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 60 1/3 innings. The right-hander struggled at times last season, going 7-11 with a 4.95 ERA in 30 games.The 25-year-old had some strong starts late in the season, but was hurt by earlier blow-up outings that ballooned his ERA.“It was a blur of a season,” he said. “Things kind of pile on top of each other. You can really get in trouble if you don’t take a second to breathe a little bit. It can really unravel. That said, I don’t think the season was as bad as the statistics said.”Weaver has a chance to crack Arizona’s opening day rotation behind Zack Greinke, Robbie Ray and Zack Godley.The key will be consistency.Every pitcher has bad outings, but the good ones are able to bounce back quickly. With a few minor adjustments, Weaver believes he can get back to being the pitcher he was in 2017.“It’s just learning to minimize those mistakes when things aren’t quite going your way,” he said. “You learn to deal with those over time, but at this level guys are a little more consistent and better what they do. It’s just trying to get on their level and be better at what they’re thinking.”