With a win today, the Pirates can end their six-game road trip against two of the National League’s better teams with a 3-3 record. After dropping seven at home to the Cubs and Padres, that’s not really a terrible result.
A win is far from a given against the Brewers, though. They’ve done what I was afraid they’d do after the All-Star Break and caught fire, leaving the Pirates and the rest of the NL Central in the dust behind them. Since an off-day on July 25th (coincidentally the last day the Pirates were in first place), the Brewers have lost just twice and they’re now on the heels of the Braves for the NL’s second best record. They send Shaun Marcum to the mound today and Marcum’s been excellent with Milwaukee in his first season in the National League. He has given up nine runs in his last two starts (both against the Cardinals), though, so maybe there’s a shadow of hope for a Pirate team that’s only scored twice in this series in Miller Park so far.
Charlie Morton takes the mound for the Pirates this afternoon. He hasn’t allowed a run since his debacle against the Phillies just before the trade deadline. The Brewers don’t necessarily start a bunch of lefties (Prince Fielder and Nyjer Morgan are it, really), so it’s possible that Morton will be able to keep his strong string of starts going this afternoon. He’ll likely need to for the Pirates to have a chance.
First pitch this afternoon is at 2:10.
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