By Guy Curtright

The Brewers were hoping to get a needed jump-start from the belated debut of big winter acquisition Zack Greinke.

Instead, Milwaukee continued its sputtering start to its promising season.

The former American League Cy Young Award winner gave up five runs (four earned) and lasted just four innings, as the Braves completed a doubleheader sweep with an 8-0 victory on Wednesday night behind a masterful one-hitter by Tim Hudson.

The Brewers’ lone hit was a long double to center field by Rickie Weeks leading off the fourth inning, and they didn’t get their second and final baserunner until Weeks walked on a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the ninth.

“With the way Hudson was pitching, it wouldn’t have mattered,” Greinke said when addressing his up-and-down debut performance.

The Brewers, who fell in the first game, 8-3, have lost five in a row, dropping their record to 13-17. That’s hardly the kind of start the team was hoping for after obtaining Greinke from the Royals in a blockbuster trade.

“I didn’t expect him to go out there and throw all zeros,” said Brewers manager Ron Roenicke of Greinke. “It’s nice to have him back. He is going to compete. But I don’t think it’s fair to think he’s going to go out and be the same guy [right away] that we’ve seen the last few years.”

Greinke, who suffered a cracked rib in a pickup basketball game at the beginning of Spring Training, didn’t get any help from his defense in his Brewers debut and was far from top form after just three Minor League rehab starts.

“For the most part, I pitched decent,” Greinke said. “I had a couple of really bad at-bats, and in the end, it made it look worse.”

Already behind, 2-0, Greinke allowed back-to-back doubles to David Ross and Eric Hinske to start the fourth inning, and Nate McLouth followed with a two-run homer on a 2-0 pitch. Hinske hit a hanging slider, and the pitch to McLouth badly missed its intended location.

Greinke worked around the Brewers’ third error to get out of the inning with no more damage, but departed after throwing 86 pitches in four innings. He allowed five hits, walked one and struck out six.

“He wasn’t throwing pitches where he could put away guys, which got him in huge trouble with the pitch count,” Roenicke said.

The Brewers’ defense betrayed Greinke in the first inning, committing two errors. With one out, first baseman Prince Fielder botched a grounder and then Wil Nieves was charged with an error for catcher’s interference. Dan Uggla followed with an RBI single after fouling off several pitches, and the Braves had a quick lead thanks to an unearned run.

Greinke needed 32 pitches to get through the first inning, and the Braves got another run in the second. McLouth walked with one out, moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Hudson and scored on a two-out single by Martin Prado.

The right-hander retired the side in order in the third inning, striking out two. But then came his rough fourth and final inning.

Meanwhile, Hudson (4-2) was dispatching the Brewers with ease. He threw first-pitch strikes to 26 of the 29 batters he faced and had six strikeouts while throwing 102 pitches in his 12th career shutout.

“All in all, I can’t remember the last time a game for me was this nice,” Hudson said.

“This is what I used to see way back when he was in Oakland,” said Roenicke, a former AL coach. “He threw a tremendous game.”

There is nothing even close to tremendous about the way the Brewers are playing right now. Quite the opposite.

“Nothing seemed to go right,” Roenicke said about the second game of the doubleheader.

But the same could basically have been said about the first game, as well.

“I’m not in panic mode or anything,” general manager Doug Melvin said between games. “I still think we have a good team.”

But Melvin was the first to admit, “We need some victories.”

Greinke’s second start will be Monday at home against the Padres. The Brewers hope to be back on track before then.

By Guy Curtright, MLB.com

Zack Greinke has completed his rehab, and cut his hair. Now, it is finally showtime.

The 2009 American League Cy Young Award winner is scheduled to make his long-awaited first start for the Brewers on Wednesday night against the Braves at Turner Field.

“There is definitely a lot of anticipation,” Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun said. “We’re excited about getting him out there and seeing what he can do.

“It’s kind of the equivalent of making a big acquisition [during the season]. We only had CC [Sabathia] for two months [in 2008]. We’ll have Zack for five and hopefully six months.”

Of course, the Brewers should have already had Greinke — obtained in a blockbuster deal with the Royals over the winter — for five weeks. But the right-hander cracked a rib playing pickup basketball at the start of camp and began the season on the disabled list.

“It’s encouraging to get the guys in there that you had planned to have at the beginning,” said Brewers manager Ron Roenicke, who was also missing right fielder Corey Hart until last week.

Greinke made three Minor League starts to get ready, the last two for Triple-A Nashville. He worked five innings for the Sounds on Friday, giving up two runs on seven hits while striking out seven and walking one.

Greinke rejoined the Brewers on Saturday in Houston, still sporting his Prince Valliant haircut. By Sunday, the hair was gone.

“I said, ‘Zack, I thought you were just going to get rid of those things on the side,’” Roenicke said. “But he buzzed it.”

“My hair kept getting in my eyes,” Greinke said. “I couldn’t find a headband that I liked.”

The new look, of course, drew the attention of teammates.

“He went from Luke Skywalker to Pvt. [Gomer] Pyle,” fellow pitcher Randy Wolf said.

“He says he’s more aerodynamic now. He’s quicker,” added Braun.

But the Brewers don’t care that much about how Greinke looks. They care a lot about how he pitches, though. They need him if they are to be contenders in the National League Central as hoped.

“We’re excited about finally being back at full strength and hopefully staying that way,” Braun said.

Greinke will be allowed to throw up to about 90 pitches in his debut against the Braves. He threw 75 in his final rehab outing for Nashville.

“It was pretty good,” Greinke said of that outing. “All my stuff was pretty decent. I was locating pretty good. I was able to use every pitch. None of them were, like, amazing, but they were all usable.

“I’m healthy, for sure. I’ve been healthy for a while now. I just had to get my arm strength.

“It feels pretty good. Maybe I’m where I should be when the season starts. Maybe one start before that. It should be good enough to be able to pitch my game.”

Greinke knows that there would have been a lot of attention on his first start with the Brewers, no matter when it was. But he downplayed any personal expectations.

“I didn’t really think about anything too much. I’m just looking forward to being back,” he said.

After spending seven seasons with the Royals in the AL, Greinke will get to swing the bat regularly in the NL. He had a double for Nashville in his final rehab outing.

“He’s been talking a lot about his hitting prowess,” Braun said.

It’s on the mound, though, where the 27-year-old Greinke will be counted on.

The Brewers hope that he pitches like he did in 2009 with the Royals, when he was 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts.

Greinke dropped to 10-14 with a 4.17 ERA last season for the Royals, but no one questions how good he can be.

“His stuff is nasty,” said Eric Hinske, who has faced Greinke more than any other Brave because of his time in the American League. “He has special stuff. Any time you put a Cy Young Award next to somebody’s name, it makes him special.”

The Brewers now will get to have Greinke on their side.

“It’s going to be a big boost for us. No question about it,” Braun said.

“I know Zack is looking forward to getting back,” Roenicke said.

by Richard Dean, MLB.com

With Zack Greinke set to make his Brewers debut on Wednesday, the club’s rotation for next week is taking shape.

Right-hander Yovani Gallardo will open the three-game series in Atlanta starting on Monday. Right-hander Marco Estrada pitches Tuesday and the right-handed Greinke pitches on Wednesday, five days after the last of his three rehab assignments for Triple-A Nashville.

“Having to do that with Yov now sets him up for the next time he goes will be on five days,” said Brewers manager Ron Roenicke.

ight-hander Shaun Marcum, who earned the win on Friday against the Astros with seven shutout innings, will start on Thursday at Atlanta, five days between starts.

“Somebody has to and this is the least amount of movement,” said Roenicke.