This is how it is: with a win today, the Pirates will have a 4 1/2 game lead on the Brewers with eight games left on the schedule. Their magic number will be three. They shouldn’t have any trouble winning three games against the Braves and Reds. If they lose, they’ll have a 2 1/2 game lead with eight games left. I think that should be enough, frankly, but it will lead to some tense moments in the season’s last week.
You probably already know this, but I’m not at all interested in the beanball war that cropped up again last night with Andrew McCutchen at Matt Garza. If the Pirates win today, they’re going to go to the playoffs and the Brewers aren’t. That’s what I’m interested. That’s how the Pirates win the battle against the Brewers.
Anyway, Vance Worley starts for the Pirates today. Obviously he’s the Pirates’ most questionable starter at this point, given that the team gave his last start to a guy with a hernia. Wily Peralta starts for the Brewers. He’s had a pretty great season, but he made some rough starts in August and he’s now surpassed last season’s innings total. It’s at least possible that he’s wearing out a bit down the stretch. The Pirates obliterated him the last time they saw him, scoring eight runs on seven hits (three homers) in five innings.
First pitch today is at 1:35.
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