The Pittsburgh Pirates have once again found themselves in a bad way. The Bucs have lost five of their last six games and look to bounce back on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (63-61) continue their up and down season. The Bucs had a stellar road trip in California, but since then, they are 1-5 after being swept by the Miami Marlins and losing two of three to the Houston Astros.
The Pirates do remain in the hunt for the second National League Wild Card spot, but they will need a big September push to make their postseason dreams a reality.
The Milwaukee Brewers (56-70) are on the opposite side of the spectrum as they are still a team that is rebuilding. They are 11.5 games back in the wild card race and have lost six of their last 10 games.
This series is bound to provide some exciting matchups due to the long lasting rivalry these two teams have had. The Pirates have struggled against the Brewers this season, posting a 5-6 record.
With that being said, here are our three matchups to watch for during this four game weekend set.
3.) David Freese vs Wily Peralta
A story surrounding David Freese was arguably the most popular one of this week.
On Monday, the Pirates signed Freese to a two-year, $11 million contract with a club option for 2019, rewarding him for the exceptional job he has done in his first season in Pittsburgh.
The 33-year old is hitting .276 with 12 home runs and 49 RBIs in 109 games. The Pirates have depended on him in multiple roles this season.
Freese has split time with John Jaso playing at first base, a position that he had only played nine times in his major league career coming into this season. He has also played an influential role at third base with Jung Ho Kang‘s various injuries and has played a huge role at the plate.
In this series, Freese, who is hitting just .174 in his last seven games, has an opportunity to show his worth once again against a man that he has had success against in the past.
In his career against tonight’s starting pitcher Wily Peralta, Freese is 4-for-10 (.400) with one home run and five RBIs. However, he has also struck out four times against the right hander.
All 10 of this at-bats came back in 2013 when Freese was a member of the St Louis Cardinals, but it is still something to keep an eye on as Freese is slated to hit fifth in tonight’s lineup.
Peralta is 5-9 with a 6.00 ERA in 16 starts this season, but holds a 1-2 record with a 3.50 ERA in three starts this month.
2.) Starting Rotation vs Brewers
Believe it or not, the Pirates pitching staff has improved as the season has progressed. What was once a staff that had various question marks surrounding it is now a stellar unit with a solidified starting rotation for the first time in quite awhile.
In this series, the Pirates send four of their five starters to the mound, with Gerrit Cole being the only exception. The probable starters for the series include Chad Kuhl, Ryan Vogelsong, Jameson Taillon and Ivan Nova in that order.
All four of these starters give the Pirates a good chance to win ball games and will continue that into this series.
Chad Kuhl Tonight
Kuhl will be making his fourth start since returning to the big leagues tonight and will look to continue his stellar pitching.
The 23-year old will be looking to post his fourth consecutive quality start and bounce back from suffering his first career loss at the hands of the Marlins.
Kuhl has pitched six plus innings in five of his last six starts and will be facing the Brewers for the very first time.
Ryan Vogelsong Tomorrow
Vogelsong, who is 1-2 with a 2.05 ERA in six starts this season, has been a pleasant surprise for the Pirates since returning from a stint on the disabled list.
The 39-year old has pitched five plus innings in each of his four starts since coming back and has allowed one earned run or less in three of those outings.
Vogelsong has had good success against Brewers hitters in the past. He has limited Ryan Braun to just one hit, which happened to be a home run, in 12 career at-bats while striking him out five times. He has also held Martin Maldonado and Kirk Nieuwenhuis to just one hit in a combined eight at-bats with Maldonado having the lone base knock.
Vogelsong is 5-3 with a 4.67 ERA in 16 appearances (10 starts) in his career against the Brewers.
Jameson Taillon on Saturday
Taillon has arguably been the Pirates most consistent arm since he debuted in early June.
The 24-year old is 3-3 with a 2.92 ERA in 12 big league starts and has pitched six innings or more in 10 of those 12 outings.
The rookie is coming off of an exceptional outing in which he allowed two earned runs on four hits while walking one and striking out eight in eight innings of work Monday against Houston. Unfortunately he was out dueled by Astros starter Doug Fister and picked up the loss in the matchup.
Taillon has pitched against the Brewers twice already this season, posting an 0-1 record with a 2.25 ERA in those two starts.
Ivan Nova Sunday
In the finale of the series, Ivan Nova is expected to toe the rubber for the Pirates.
Since joining the Pirates shortly after the trade deadline, Nova has been stellar in four starts, posting a 3-0 record with a 3.20 ERA and allowing only two home runs.
The 29-year old, who is 10-6 with a 4.55 ERA in 25 appearances (19 starts) this season, is fresh off of his best start of the year.
On Tuesday against the Astros, Nova allowed just one earned run on six hits while walking one and striking out six en route to his fourth career complete game.
Nova will be making his first career start against the Brewers on Sunday.
The pitching staff as a whole has been exceptional in the month of August, compiling a 3.24 team ERA which ranks second in the NL behind the Chicago Cubs.
The staff has also lessened the amount of walks allowed, limiting hitters to a combined 54 free passes in August, the least in the NL. Their 17 home runs allowed in the month is also the second least.
It will be interesting to see if the pitching staff as a whole and the starting rotation in particular can help lead the Pirates to a win in a very crucial road series.
1.) Pirates at Miller Park
It’s no secret that Miller Park in Milwaukee hasn’t been a pleasant place to play for the Pirates in the last decade or so.
The Pirates have compiled a 17-64 record at this ball park since 2007 and though the players are different, it’s become a lingering issue.
The Bucs are under the .500 mark against the Brewers in head to head meetings this season and the Brewers play noticeably better at home than on the road.
Despite their less than stellar overall record, the Brewers are 36-29 at home compared to a 20-41 record on the road.
The Pirates have an excellent opportunity to bounce back from back-to-back series losses with this upcoming series in Milwaukee. The curse that some like to joke is associated with the “Randall Simon Sausage Incident” is still ongoing and the Pirates must find a way around it to stay the course and keep pace in the wild card race.
This series is one that could make or break the Pirates, especially since they follow this series with a three game series in Chicago against the Cubs.
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