Pittsburgh @ Milwaukee preview
American Family Field
Last Meeting ( Jul 22, 2010 ) Milwaukee 3, Pittsburgh 2
Hoping to avoid finishing with the worst record in baseball, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been showing some spark of late.
The Pirates will be looking to post three straight wins for the first time since early May when they open a three-game set against the struggling Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.
Pittsburgh announced that it would not just be rolling over for contenders this week by taking the final two of a three-game series from the St. Louis Cardinals, including beating Cy Young candidate Adam Wainwright on Tuesday.
Down 2-0 in the sixth with Wainwright cruising, the Pirates put together two-run rallies in both the sixth and seventh to take the lead. Neil Walker was the key to both, driving in a run in the sixth and plating both with a single in the seventh.
Walker was at it again Wednesday, driving a three-run triple to deep center off Jake Westbrook to give Pittsburgh a lead in the third. Jose Tabata added an RBI in both games as well.
Walker and Tabata are two of the many players the Pirates brass is hoping to build the offense of the future around, along with Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez.
The Brewers seem to just be playing out the string at this point. Losers of four straight, Milwaukee was swept in a three-game series at home this week by the Los Angeles Dodgers - a team that had not won a road series since prior to the All-Star break.
James McDonald will get the call for the Pirates on Friday. Acquired from the Dodgers prior to the deadline as part of the deal that send Octavio Dotel out of town, McDonald has made four starts for the Pirates - two great ones and two stinkers.
The 25-year-old right-hander is coming off one of those stinkers from last weekend, when he allowed five runs and six hits while walking five in five innings to suffer a loss against the New York Mets.
Pittsburgh fans looking for the bright side will point to his two solid starts, in which he allowed a total of one earned run and seven hits in 13 innings to pick up wins over the Colorado Rockies and Rockies Marlins.
McDonald has also been strong in his career against Milwaukee, making four relief appearances against the club when he was with the Dodgers and yielding five hits in six scoreless innings.
The Brewers will counter with left-hander Chris Narveson, who is coming off a tough start of his own. The 28-year-old lasted only three innings against the San Diego Padres last weekend, surrendering three runs on four hits while issuing three walks. He also failed to record a strikeout for the first time in 21 starts this season.
Narveson has made two starts against the Pirates this season, going 1-0 while allowing a total of six runs and 12 hits in 11 innings.