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(Sports Network) - The National League's hottest team squares off against one of the circuit's least successful clubs tonight at San Diego's Petco Park, where the Milwaukee Brewers put a six-game win streak on the line against the host Padres.

The Brewers' recent surge has put them three games up on second-place St. Louis in the NL Wild Card standings, although Milwaukee still trails Chicago by 3 1/2 games for the top spot in the Central Division. The last four victories came at home at the expense of the lowly Washington Nationals, including Monday's 7-1 decision.

Dave Bush (7-9) held Washington to one run and five hits over 6 1/3 innings to gain the win, with the right-hander getting plenty of support via home runs by Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks.

Hart finished 2-for-4 with two RBI for the scorching Brewers, who also received a two-run double from Craig Counsell on the afternoon. Prince Fielder added a pair of hits, including an RBI double.

Milwaukee's last two wins came without slugger Ryan Braun in the lineup. The All-Star outfielder is dealing with a ribcage injury and is considered day-to- day.

Jeff Suppan gets the call for the Brew Crew in tonight's opener of this three- game set and comes in having won his last two starts. The veteran righty worked seven solid innings to beat Cincinnati on Wednesday, allowing three runs on seven hits.

Prior to that outing, Suppan twirled seven shutout frames to lead Milwaukee to a 9-0 triumph at Atlanta on August 1.

Suppan owns a 4-3 record with a 6.23 earned run average over nine career starts against San Diego. In three previous appearances at Petco Park, the 33- year-old is just 1-2 with a 6.35 ERA.

The Padres are buried at the bottom of the NL West standings at the moment, but the disappointing club did end last week's six-game road trip with back- to-back wins at Colorado. In Sunday's finale, San Diego belted four homers and racked up 20 hits in a 16-7 rout of the Rockies.

Brian Giles and Luke Carlin each had one of those homers, with both players knocking in four runs on the afternoon. Giles also finished with four hits and four runs scored.

Jody Gerut also went deep for the Padres and ended 3-for-6 with three RBI. Kevin Kouzmanoff had the other San Diego home run, a two-run shot among his three hits, while Adrian Gonzalez contributed four hits and two RBI to the winning effort.

Justin Hampson (1-1) was awarded the victory after tossing three shutout innings in relief of ineffective starter Chris Young, who was knocked around for seven runs and nine hits before exiting after four frames.

The Padres are hoping for a better showing tonight out of Cha Seung Baek. The native Korean was sharp in last Wednesday's start at New York, as he held the Mets to two runs through 6 1/3 innings to record the win in San Diego's 4-2 decision.

Baek has not had success in pitcher-friendly Petco Park this season, however. In his seven appearances (6 starts) at home since joining the Padres, the right-hander is 0-5 with a 6.96 ERA. This will be his first career matchup with Milwaukee.

These teams will be meeting one another for the first time this season. The Padres went 5-2 against Milwaukee last year, which included a three-game sweep at Petco Park.