This Tuesday the (48-79) Pittsburgh Pirates and the (67-59) Milwaukee Brewers will play game two of this three-game series. The first pitch will be thrown out at 8:10 PM EST inside American Family Field. The last time that these two teams matched up, the Pirates were able to sweep the Brewers 3-0.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are coming into this one after losing their previous three-game series to the Philadelphia Phillies. In their two losses, they only scored four combined runs, as they weren't scoring enough to get the job done. They will now need their bats to heat up if they want to take down the Brewers on the road again.
The Milwaukee Brewers are entering this one after winning their previous series against the Chicago Cubs. The Brewers looked great at the dish in the final two games of that series, as they scored 16 combined runs. They got their bats going and the Cubs simply couldn't slow them down. Milwaukee must stay hot at the plate if they want to get revenge on the Pirates in this one.
This game was written/published before last night's game.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have continued to struggle on the road this season, as they are now 22-43 outside of PNC Park. They are also 21.0 games back from the San Diego Padres for the third and final NL Wild Card Spot. Their poor play has put them in dead last place in the NL Central. The Pirates are 3-7 in their last 10 and they are also 25.5 games back from the first-place St. Louis Cardinals. At the plate, the Pirates are scoring 3.66 runs per game and hitting .220 as a team. This is the third least amount of runs scored per game and the second lowest overall team batting average. They have struggled to consistently reach base all season, which has made it much more difficult to score. Pittsburgh has also had to string together multiple base hits to create a big inning. They don't have much power inside their lineup and they are also struggling when they have men in scoring position. Pittsburgh is only hitting 1.00 home runs per game, which is the 18th lowest average in the MLB. Watch for Bryan Reynolds at the plate, as he has been the most consistent home run hitter for Pittsburgh. The Pirates have only stolen 64 bases this season, as well.
According to MLB.com, the Pirates will be starting Mitch Keller on the mound. He is currently 4-10 with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. In his last start, Keller only pitched for 3.2 innings and he gave up seven hits and seven runs. Only two of them were his fault, though. The Pirates' fielding has continued to make mistakes, as they didn't help Keller much the last time he was on the mound. He has also been horrible on the road this season, as he is 4-4 with a 4.20 ERA outside of PNC Park. Unfortunately, the Pirate's bullpen has had some serious struggles this season, as well. They are allowing 4.53 runs per game, which is the 26th highest overall team bullpen ERA in the league. As a team, the Pirates are allowing the 26th most runs per game.