Milwaukee @ Pittsburgh preview
PNC Park
Last Meeting ( May 19, 2010 ) Milwaukee 4, Pittsburgh 6
Milwaukee Brewers reliever Trevor Hoffman may be taking a couple of days off, but the Brew Crew is still finding ways to blow leads.
The Brewers will be looking to snap a nine-game losing streak when they face the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.
Hoffman blew his fifth save of the season on Tuesday, surrendering three runs in the ninth inning as Milwaukee fell at Cincinnati. The all-time saves leader owns a 13.15 ERA this season and has allowed seven home runs in 13 innings.
The latest mishap prompted Brewers manager Ken Macha to alert the media that Hoffman would be getting the next couple of days off to work with pitching coach Rick Peterson on some flaws in his delivery.
But Milwaukee didn't even bother waiting until the ninth inning to let Wednesday's game slip away, yielding three runs in the seventh inning to squander a 4-3 lead. Starter Randy Wolf presided over most of the damage, allowing three hits and a walk in the fateful frame before Todd Coffey came on and allowed an inherited runner to score.
Steve Pearce turned in his first multi-hit game of the season for the Pirates, notching three hits and driving in the final run off Coffey. Pittsburgh spread the offense around in the series opener, getting RBIs from six different players.
The Pirates are slowly climbing towards the .500 mark with wins in four of their last six games.
One bright spot for Milwaukee has been the play of Casey McGehee, who homered again on Wednesday and now leads the club with nine and ranks second in the National League with 37 RBIs.
Chris Narveson will get the start for the Brewers on Thursday. The right-hander was forced into the starting rotation a few weeks ago due to the ineptitude of Jeff Suppan and the lingering health concerns of Doug Davis.
Narveson has gone 2-1 with a 4.43 ERA in four starts, striking out 26 in 22 1/3 total innings. The 28-year-old gave up four runs and eight hits while striking out nine last Saturday to suffer a loss against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Pirates will counter with left-hander Paul Maholm. The 27-year-old is coming off one of his best starts of the season, allowing two runs in six innings to pick up a win at Chicago last Saturday. Maholm struck out four and did not walk a batter.
He has faced Milwaukee once already this season, allowing four runs on five hits and five walks in seven innings. For his career, Maholm owns a 3-5 record with a 4.63 ERA and a .292 batting average against in 15 starts vs. the Brewers.
While Prince Fielder has struggled with a .081 batting average against Maholm, slugger Ryan Braun is 9-for-24 with a homer and eight RBIs and Corey Hart is 12-for-37 with a pair of blasts in his career against the left-hander.