The Milwaukee Brewers will to try to prevent being swept in the finale of their three-game series with the New York Mets today without first baseman Prince Fielder, who is getting a rare off-day.

Fielder, who has struggled recently against a steady diet of left-handed pitching, will be replaced in the lineup today by backup catcher Mike Rivera who is making a rare start. Fielder has just three hits in his lat 25 at-bats (.120) and has not hit a home run over the last 17 games, which includes 66 at-bats.

Gabe Kapler also is starting in center field, giving Mike Cameron a breather. With Fielder on the bench, manager Ned Yost altered the middle of his batting order, moving Ryan Braun into the clean-up spot.

Here is Milwaukee's lineup today:
2B Rickie Weeks
SS J.J. Hardy
CF Gabe Kapler
LF Ryan Braun
RF Corey Hart
1B Mike Rivera
3B Bill Hall
C Jason Kendall
RHP Dave Bush

And here's the New York Mets' lineup:
SS Jose Reyes
LF Daniel Murphy
3B David Wright
1B Carlos Delgado
CF Carlos Beltran
RF Ryan Church
2B Luis Castillo
C Brian Schneider
LHP Oliver Perez

Perez is the fifth lefty starter Milwaukee has faced in six games. The Brewers face another left-hander tomorrow when San Diego's Shawn Estes is scheduled to start against Milwaukee right-hander Jeff Suppan.

TODAY'S STARTING PITCHERS
Milwaukee RHP Dave Bush (9-9, 4.12 earned run average) vs. New York LHP Oliver Perez (9-7, 3.90). Bush had a strong August, going 4-0 with a 2.12 ERA in five starts. He is 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in two career starts against the Mets. Perez has no-decisions in his last three starts but has gone at least six innings in 12 consecutive outings. He is 3-1 with a 5.09 ERA in eight career starts against the Brewers.

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN
Brewers bullpen coach Bill Castro was officially named a citizen of the United States yesterday. Castro, who was born in Santiago in the Dominican Republic, has lived in Milwaukee since 1984.

He passed a test to become a citizen of the United States and is waiting to be notified when he will officially be sworn in as a U.S. citizen.

The Brewers celebrated the occasion by passing out flags to the players who displayed them in their lockers.

"I applied for residency in 1984 and had to wait for three years to apply for citizenship," Castro said. "I kept saying I was going to do it. But it's like a lot of things that you say you're going to do. I finally set my mind to do it."

Castro said he began the process in June and didn't expect to be tested so soon.
"I went for the interview (Tuesday) and I passed. Now I have to wait to be sworn in and then it will be official."

Castro said he will be notified via mail of the date, place and time when he will have to appear before a judge for the official ceremony.

But the hard part is over

"They asked me 10 questions and I knew them all," said Castro, who was quizzed by his wife Mary as well as the Brewers players and coaches.

"I wasn't nervous, really. I was confident I knew them all. In fact, I felt like a history teacher. There were questions some of the guys couldn't answer."

SUPPAN HONORED
For the second consecutive year, right-hander Jeff Suppan is the Brewers' winner of the Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to a player on each club who excels on the field and in the community. Suppan, eligible for the national award, donates $100,000 each year to Brewer Charities and is involved with wife Dana in many other causes.

Wednesday was officially designated as Roberto Clemente Day in baseball with each team honoring their respective nominee for the award in a pregame ceremony.

MR. 3000
The Brewers enter today's game needing just one victory for 3,000 in the history of the franchise. The team has an all-time record of 2,999-3,323-4.