Milwaukee @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 21, 2010 ) Milwaukee 3, Pittsburgh 15

The suddenly red-hot Pittsburgh Pirates have been pounding away on Brewers pitching for the last two days.

Milwaukee ace Yovani Gallardo is hoping to change that.

Gallardo will make his first start in three weeks Thursday as the Pirates and Brewers wrap up a four-game series in Pittsburgh. Gallardo suffered an oblique strain on July 4, hours after he was named to his first All-Star team.

He never got to pitch in the game, but is back at a time the Brewers need him most. The Pirates have pounded Brewers pitching for 26 runs and 29 hits the last two days, but Gallardo has dominated Pittsburgh. He is 5-1 with a 2.00 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 54 innings in nine lifetime starts against the Pirates.

Gallardo beat Pittsburgh twice within five days in April, but that was before the Pirates called up rookies Pedro Alvarez, Mike Walker and Jose Tabata.

Rarely has the traditionally awful Pittsburgh franchise been as hot offensively as it is now. Led by their young nucleus, the Pirates have scored at least nine runs in four of their last five games.

Alvarez, the No. 2 overall pick two years ago, has belted four homers in the last two games. He is batting .406 over his last eight games, with five homers and 10 RBIs during that time – proving he has fully recovered from a .197 start through his first 22 games.

Delwyn Young, only in the lineup because rising star Andrew McCutchen remains out with a shoulder injury, hit a three-run homer Tuesday as part of Pittsburgh’s six-run fourth inning and finished with five RBIs.

The Brewers are desperate for a quality start. Randy Wolf was belted for a career-high 12 runs in 5 2-3 innings, even though Wolf volunteered to stay on and take a pounding to save the bullpen. Still, Milwaukee starters have allowed 10 or more runs in three of the last four games.

The Brewers will try for a split of the four-game series against Pirates starter Russ Ohlendorf, who is coming off the shortest outing of his career. Ohlendorf allowed four runs in just 1 1-3 innings, throwing 46 pitches and struggling with his command against the Houston Astros.

His only victory this season came on July 2, when he was in the midst of an impressive three-game streak. Ohlendorf allowed just two total runs in 20 innings over three straight starts this month against Oakland, Philadelphia and Houston, but he went just 1-1 during that time.