David Troy
Videos by OutKick
Pirates vs. Brewers, 4:10 ET
The fluctuation of this season isn’t something that I’m too thrilled about. When I feel like I’m about to start a nice run, I have a setback or go 1-1 for a few days in a row. The good thing is that any day can be the day you start a big run. Hopefully, you all have tailed my wins and faded my losses and been even more profitable this season than I have. Today, my play focuses in on the NL Central as the Pirates take on the Brewers.
Sometimes you just stare at a team and are waiting for the wheels to fall off. Can the Pittsburgh Pirates, one of the teams with the lowest payrolls in all of baseball, one of the teams that seemed like they were openly trying to lose, actually make the postseason? I still am not a believer, but I wish I had a ticket on them to make it from before the season. This series won’t determine the playoffs, but it will determine sole possession of first place for now. Today, Mitch Keller throws for the Pirates and he has been significantly better at home than he has on the road. I wouldn’t say he is terrible as a visiting starter, but he has a 4.10 ERA compared to a 2.78 ERA at home. He’s allowed 10 earned runs over his past two road starts, but the Pirates did win both of those. The Pirates are actually 5-2 on his road starts. He hasn’t faced the Brewers this year, but he does have some success against the hitters.
The Brewers started out looking like they would be World Series contenders. After losing to the Cubs in the opener, they went on a very nice run and looked hotter than pretty much anyone outside of the Rays. Eventually, as I alluded to in my season previews, the Brewers hitting couldn’t really keep up. Then the pitching started to dip from the past couple of seasons and now the division is up for grabs between pretty much everyone. To try and stop these upstart Pirates, they are sending Wade Miley to the hill. Miley is returning from the injured list and making this start, so expect the bullpen to contribute quite a bit to this game. He hasn’t faced the Pirates this season, but in two starts against them last year he went a total of 11 innings and allowed just one earned run.
I actually have more faith in Keller to win this game than I do Miley. However, I think this is a bad spot for Keller and the Pirates, so I’m going to take the Brewers for the game. This is essentially a coinflip game, but Miley’s history and Keller’s recent road struggles lead me to take the Brew Crew.
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