Ah, a midweek series against the Milwaukee Brewers. This one provides a little more drama than most as the 15-24 Brewers come to town broke, busted, disgusted, and considering firing their untrusted agent Ken Macha. Eight losses in a row will do that. With the Twins coming up, you know they're looking at the Pirates thinking this is an opportunity to win two.
After yesterday's ugly blown save, Trevor Hoffman has a 13.15 ERA. He's a great closer, maybe the best ever, but it's hard to imagine he still has the job. The rest of the Milwaukee bullpen is pretty awful as well. There's no way to manage five relievers with 5+ ERAs into some great result. Remember the 2009 Pirates? Of course not.
Of course, the Brewers' offense is second in the league in scoring runs. Casey McGehee (.322/.393/.559) has driven in 35 runs already and is among the league leaders in that category. Corey Hart (.276/.353/.543) still doesn't realize he's terrible. Braun is having another MVP-caliber year, Weeks isn't hurt yet and Prince Fielder is starting to hit as well. Overall, the Brewers are the team I least want to see play. The team I most want to see is the Hartford Whalers.Milwaukee Brewers - Wednesday 7:05, Thursday 7:05
Wednesday's game matches Randy Wolf (3-3, 4.66) and Brian Burres (2-1, 5.00). Surprisingly, Wolf has been non-Cy Young worthy in his starts that aren't against the Pirates. He's been good for five or six innings and four runs against most average offenses. Boy would it be nice to have Most Average Offenses. Former Phillies pitchers are tough on the Bucs. Robin Roberts is pitching Thursday. Burres is lights out at home. My pick is the Pirates.
Thursday, the Brewers go with Chris Narveson (3-1, 5.29) against Paul Maholm (3-3, 4.40). It must be nice to give the ball to Chris Narveson with your job on the line. Has Ken Macha ever heard of Chris Narveson? This Brewers losing streak has generated an all time record number of highlights consisting solely of Macha standing in the dugout looking stoic. Maholm is the better pitcher. My pick is the Pirates.
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