Brewers activate Aramis Ramirez from the DL

The Milwaukee Brewers will get some pop back in their lineup Friday for the second game of their series against the Cardinals. The club is planning to reinstate third baseman Aramis Ramirez from the 15-day disabled list and option corner utility man Josh Prince back to Triple-A, the team has announced.

Ramirez, 34, has been sidelined since April 6 with a sprained left knee. Normally, the Brewers would have the veteran get a few rehab games in before stepping back into the big club's lineup, but Ramirez specifically asked to not be put on a minor-league assignment. As a result, it's likely that he won't play all nine innings in his first couple games back with Milwaukee. Manager Ron Roenicke added that Ramirez won't play in back-to-back games right away either.

Yuniesky Betancourt has been filling in for Ramirez over the last few weeks, and did such a surprisingly good job at it that the Brew Crew is likely to shift him over to first base in lieu of playing Alex Gonzalez there. Betancourt still can't get on base to save his life, but his seven big flies in the first month-plus of the season pretty much guarantees him a spot in the lineup for the next several weeks.

Prince, 25, appeared in just six games for Milwaukee in his four weeks with the club, hitting a double in five at-bats.

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