Pittsburgh @ Milwaukee preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 15, 2018 ) Milwaukee 6, Pittsburgh 7

The Milwaukee Brewers' hold on the National League's final wild-card spot is tenuous at best, making this weekend a bad time to welcome a team it has struggled against this season. The Brewers attempt to solve the riddle of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday when the NL Central rivals meet in Milwaukee for the opener of a three-game set.

Red-hot St. Louis bypassed the Brewers (71-58) in the Central and in the wild-card standings earlier this week, leaving them in a virtual tie with Colorado for the final wild-card slot and 3 1/2 games back of the division-leading Chicago Cubs. Milwaukee has steadied the ship of late by winning three of four following a 5-10 start to August, but the club needs to look no further than its 2-8 record against Pittsburgh as to why it doesn't have more margin for error. The Pirates got the majority of their eight wins in the season series right before the All-Star break, sweeping a five-game series from July 12-15. The Pirates enter this series 7 1/2 games behind the Brewers and may have trouble replicating their earlier success against Milwaukee, as they have scored a total of 16 runs while dropping eight of their last 10 contests.

TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Joe Musgrove (5-7, 3.31 ERA) vs. Brewers LH Wade Miley (2-2, 2.18)

Musgrove registered his fifth consecutive quality start in a win against Chicago on Saturday, limiting the Cubs to one run while striking out seven on only 87 pitches across seven innings. The 25-year-old leads Pittsburgh's rotation in ERA and WHIP (1.18) and has worked at least seven frames in five of his last six trips to the mound. Musgrove's strong recent stretch began immediately after a rough outing against Milwaukee, which tagged him for five runs over 7 2/3 innings in a no-decision on July 15.

Miley has yet to yield more than three earned runs in any of his nine starts after spending separate stints on the disabled list with groin and rib injuries earlier this season. The Southeast Louisiana product took the loss at St. Louis on Saturday, permitting four runs (one earned) despite striking out a season-high seven over five frames. David Freese is 6-for-15 with a home run and four walks versus Miley, who was saddled with the loss in Pittsburgh after giving up two runs over five innings on July 12.

WALK-OFFS

1. Brewers OF Christian Yelich, whose next home run will give him a career-high 22, is riding a nine-game hitting streak.

2. Pittsburgh's rotation has lost four of five decisions despite posting a 1.69 ERA over the last seven contests.

3. Milwaukee OF Lorenzo Cain is on a six-game hitting streak and batting .370 in August.

PREDICTION: Brewers 3, Pirates 2