Milwaukee @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( May 26, 2013 ) Pittsburgh 5, Milwaukee 4

The Pittsburgh Pirates are in the midst of their best run in 21 years, riding a six-game winning streak that has elevated them into a tie with the St. Louis Cardinals for the best record in baseball. The Pirates capped off a 7-2 road trip with a two-game sweep of Seattle after taking three straight from the Los Angeles Angels. They will look to keep the momentum going when they host the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday in the opener of a three-game series.

Milwaukee saw its hopes for a contending season unravel in the wake of a dismal 6-22 record in May. The Brewers have rebounded to go 12-12 this month, but are coming off back-to-back home losses to the Chicago Cubs - a team they had beaten nine straight times in Milwaukee. Some sloppy defense played a critical role in Thursday's 7-2 defeat, which dropped the Brewers into last place in the National League Central.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Wisconsin (Milwaukee), ROOT (Pittsburgh)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers RH Johnny Hellweg (NR) vs. Pirates RH Gerrit Cole (3-0, 3.44 ERA)

Another injury to the Brewers' beleaguered pitching staff has opened the door for Hellweg to make his major-league debut. Hellweg, who will become the 10th Milwaukee pitcher to make a start this year, made 14 at Triple-A Nashville and logged a 7-4 record and stellar 2.82 ERA. The 6-foot-9 Hellweg, whose fastball has been clocked at 100 mph, won his last five starts at Nashville.

Cole has shown why he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 draft, winning each of his first three major-league starts. Like Hellweg, he owns an overpowering fastball but that has not translated into high strikeout numbers with Pittsburgh - he's fanned eight batters but walked only one while yielding seven runs in his first three turns. Cole, who has yet to go past 6 1/3 innings, is 2-0 at home.

WALK-OFFS

1. Pittsburgh, which is 18 games over .500 for the first time since 1992, hasn't won seven in a row since 2004.

2. 2B Rickie Weeks has a career-high 11-game hitting streak for the Brewers, who scored a total of 12 runs in losing five of the past six matchups with the Pirates.

3. Pirates 3B Pedro Alvarez has a 10-game hitting streak, one shy of his career high set during his rookie campaign of 2010.

PREDICTION: Pirates 5, Brewers 3