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MILWAUKEE — Ryan Braun is expected to be back in Milwaukee and available Thursday night when the Brewers open a four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park.

Braun left the team Thursday morning for Los Angeles Victor Mete Jersey , where he received a cryotherapy injection in his right thumb — a procedure he has undergone four times since first receiving treatment on the thumb following the 2014 season.

“It started bugging him the last couple of days so he flew out (Thursday) morning),” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s something that he expects from time to time. When it starts (bothering him), we try to get in front of it and knock it out right away.”

Braun was expected to miss Milwaukee’s game Wednesday night at Pittsburgh, but Mother Nature made the point moot as rain forced cancellation of the finale of a three-game series with the Pirates.

As a result, the Brewers will take the field Thursday virtually tied with the Chicago Cubs for first place in the National League Central with the Cardinals lingering 4 1/2 games behind.

St. Louis will try to cut into that deficit behind right-hander Carlos Martinez (3-3, 2.73 ERA), who has struggled since returning from the disabled list back on June 5.

In three starts since then, Martinez is 0-1 with a 7.11 ERA. He struck out 15 while walking 18 in 12 2/3 innings — failing to get past the fifth in any of those outings — while opponents have batted .306 against him with a .908 OPS.

“He’s got to do something different, I know,” manager Mike Matheny admitted. “(Pitching coach Mike) Maddux has talked to him about getting locked in. It just looks different. We need him to be like he can be.”

Martinez was off to a strong start before the injury. He bounced back from a rough season-opening outing against the New York Mets to post a 0.99 ERA over his next seven starts. He still had a 1.77 ERA after the Minnesota Twins tagged him for four runs over five innings in a 7-1 loss on May 8 but was placed on the disabled list the next day with a strained forearm.

“Right when he got hurt, he was as good as anybody in the league,” said Matheny. “We’ve just got to get him back there, that’s all.

Martinez has faced Milwaukee twice this season, dominating the Brewers in each appearance. He held them to a run over six innings in a 5-3 victory on April 10 in St. Louis and fell two outs short of a complete game shutout on April 4 at Miller Park, where he is 4-4 with a 2.36 ERA in 16 career appearances, including 10 starts.

Overall, he’s 6-4 with a 1.95 ERA in his career against Milwaukee and has held the Brewers to two runs or fewer in 10 of his last 14 starts against the Brewers.

Because of the rainout in Pittsburgh, left-hander Brent Suter (7-4, 4.30) will get an extra day of rest and start for Milwaukee on Thursday, with Junior Guerra Craig Smith Jersey , Chase Anderson and Jhoulys Chacin rounding out the series.

Suter is 1-0 with a 3.48 ERA in two starts against St. Louis this season, and 1-2 with a 4.10 ERA in eight career appearances (four starts) against the Cardinals..

Elvis Andrus is back in the Texas lineup after his first trip to the disabled list.

Andrus, a two-time All-Star for the Rangers, was activated Monday for the series opener against the Kansas City Royals. He missed 59 games after a pitch by Kenyan Middleton broke his right elbow in an April 11 game against the Los Angeles Angels.

He had been inactive for only three of the Rangers’ 1,515 games since making his debut on opening day in 2009. He was suspended for a 2016 game and was on the paternity list for two games in 2017.

”He’s never gone through this,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. ”He’s never not played in 10 years. This is the first time.”

Texas went 25-34 without Andrus, who hit .327 with two home runs and five RBIs in 14 games before the injury.

”A guy that has played 10 consecutive years you don’t replace,” Banister said. ”You miss everything he does and what he was able to do. He was our three-hole hitter and one of the better centerpieces of the offense. He did a lot of things for us offensively. Obviously, he was one of the leaders with (Adrian) Beltre on defense.”

Andrus went 1-for-24 with three walks in a seven-game rehab assignment in the minors.

Jurickson Profar, who had four RBIs Sunday in the victory over Colorado, started 56 games at shortstop in Andrus’ absence. He started at second on Monday against the Royals, will play third on Tuesday and be the designated hitter Wednesday.

”He played very well,” Banister said. ”He became one of the better hitters in our lineup. I thought he progressively got better defensively.”

He said the plan is to play Rougned Odor, Profar and Beltre five games a week.

In other roster moves, the Rangers recalled right-hander Ricardo Rodriguez from Triple-A Round Rock, optioned catcher Jose Trevino to Double-A Frisco and designated for assignment right-hander Dick McGuire, who was claimed off waivers last week from Toronto.

Rookie utility player Isiah Kiner-Falefa will become the backup catcher. He will make his first major league start behind the plate Wednesday. He has started at third base, second base and shortstop.

”He’s earned the right to be here and to do it here,” Banister said.