Milwaukee Brewers (32-26, second in the NL Central) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (28-28, third in the NL Central)
Pittsburgh; Saturday, 4 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Brewers: Brandon Woodruff (7-1, 3.22 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 75 strikeouts) Pirates: Nick Kingham (1-1, 8.28 ERA, 1.94 WHIP, 28 strikeouts)
LINE: Pirates favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Division rivals Pittsburgh and Milwaukee will play on Saturday at PNC Park.
The Pirates are 12-9 against opponents from the NL Central. The Pittsburgh pitching staff has a team ERA of 4.91, Joe Musgrove leads the staff with a mark of 4.85.
The Brewers are 13-10 against the rest of their division. Milwaukee has a team on-base percentage of .324, good for second in the National League. Christian Yelich leads the lineup with a mark of .386. The Pirates won the last meeting 9-4. Chris Archer earned his second victory and Starling Marte went 3-for-5 with an RBI for Pittsburgh. Jhoulys Chacin registered his seventh loss for Milwaukee.
TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Bell leads the Pirates with 40 extra base hits and is slugging .704. Bryan Reynolds has 15 hits and is batting .000 over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.
Yelich leads the Brewers with 21 home runs home runs and is slugging .699. Yasmani Grandal has 12 hits and is batting .000 over the last 10 games for Milwaukee.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 4-6, .305 batting average, 7.36 ERA, outscored by 14 runs
Brewers: 5-5, .265 batting average, 4.96 ERA, outscored opponents by one run
Pirates Injuries: Trevor Williams: 10-day IL (side), Jameson Taillon: 60-day IL (elbow), Chris Stratton: 10-day IL (side), Edgar Santana: 60-day IL (elbow), Jordan Lyles: day-to-day (hamstring), Chad Kuhl: 60-day IL (elbow), Keone Kela: 10-day IL (shoulder), Nick Burdi: 60-day IL (biceps), Corey Dickerson: 60-day IL (shoulder), Lonnie Chisenhall: 60-day IL (finger), Jung Ho Kang: 10-day IL (side), Erik Gonzalez: 60-day IL (collarbone), Francisco Cervelli: 7-day IL (concussion).
Brewers Injuries: Bobby Wahl: 60-day IL (knee), Brent Suter: 60-day IL (elbow), Corey Knebel: 60-day IL (elbow), Travis Shaw: 10-day IL (wrist), Manny Pina: 10-day IL (hamstring).
