Friday: Kyle Lohse (7-1 2.60) vs. Brandon Crumpton (0-2 6.85) 6:05 pm FSNWI
Saturday: Matt Garza (3-4 4.43) vs. Edinson Volquez (3-4 4.25) 3:05 pm FSNWI
Sunday: Yovani Gallardo (3-4 4.08) vs. Charlie Morton (2-7 3.31) 12:35 pm FSNWI
Five Things To Watch
1.) Continued success for Kyle Lohse - I talked about this a week ago or so, but Lohse is really pitching like an ace. The talks of him being the number one on this staff grew after his 93 pitch complete game shutout on Sunday. So what does he have for an encore? He pitched well against the Pirates in the two times he faced them in April. He nearly went complete at Miller Park, and at PNC, he pitched well with a poor defensive effort behind him. What's weird is many of the good Pittsburgh hitters have good numbers against Lohse in decent sample-sizes with the winner being Jose Tabata hitting over .400 against him.2.) Dreading a first base platoon - With the Brewers being back in National League ballparks, it means Aramis Ramirez will be moving back to third base. It also means Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay will be taking over the role of first baseman. Both players are hitting around the .210 mark, but more importantly, Reynolds has 13 home runs with 10 against right-handed pitchers. I pray on everything holy Ron Roenicke doesn't platoon these two players because there is no reason Overbay should be getting starts over Reynolds for a platoon sake. Personal opinion, I would rather see Hunter Morris as the left-handed first base versus Overbay even though he's probably not as good as a defensive first baseman.
3.) Yovani's redemption? - We already talked about in Highlights/Lowlights regarding how bad Yovani has been in the last six starts. He typically has done well for his career against Pittsburgh. Gallardo needs what Garza got last Monday. A carefree start where he was able to move through the lineup and take care of business. But Garza did that by going right after batters and that's something Gallardo cannot seem to do as of late especially the second time around in the order. Batters are feasting when they see Yovani for a second time around. Something has to change. I have no idea if they can make that quick of a fix, but it is needed as soon as possible.
4.) Pittsburgh is sort of, kinda of, warm right now - Pittsburgh currently sits three games under .500 seven games behind the Brewers. Grantland's Jonah Keri wondered if they were beginning to hit the regression train with their limited spending and pitching decisions. Pittsburgh's fanbase went at Keri like defensive parents at a soccer match. Weirdly, it feels like 2009 Milwaukee in Pittsburgh. But I will say this, they won six of nine games on the West Coast coming into this series. Milwaukee might be heading into a buzzsaw, and Pittsburgh knows damn well it could be in second place by the end of the weekend if it is a really good one (Granted, they would still be several games back, but regardless, it should be motivation).
5.) Which Volquez comes to PNC on Saturday? - One of the players prominently featured in Keri's column is Volquez talking about how bad he has been defensively all season plus giving up eleven home runs in 65 innings pitched. Volquez is having an up and down year truly. He pitched well against the Brewers earlier this season in two starts but has known to hit a wall against Milwaukee. The last couple games for Volquez were solid, he only gave up two runs, but only pitched five innings.
Appropriate YouTube video
I went with a clip from 'She's Out of My League.' One of my sneaky favorite movies and it takes place in Pittsburgh so there you go.
Prediction
I understand Milwaukee beats up Pittsburgh, but something tells me the Brewers could drop two here. I will go against the voice in my head and say they find a way to scrap out two wins.
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