The National League Central has four of its five teams entering Thursday with a winning record as the Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers finish up their series in Pittsburgh on Thursday with both looking for a leg up in the early portion of the season.
Milwaukee Brewers (-125, 7) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
Mitch Keller gets the start on the mound for Pittsburgh, having had velocity issues dating all the way back to Spring Training and enters with a 4.80 ERA with his strikeouts down from a season ago, getting 7.5 strikeouts and 3.3 walks per nine innings this season after getting 9.7 strikeouts with 2.5 walks per nine innings a season ago.
The bullpen behind Keller has also struggled to begin the season, ranking 21st among MLB teams with a 4.26 ERA with injuries to starter Marco Gonzales and reliever Ryan Borucki challenging the team’s depth.
While the Brewers’ offense has taken a step back with former MVP Christian Yelich landing on the injured list, the Brewers still entered Wednesday’s tilt second in the league in both batting average and runs per game on the road with over 5.9 runs per game and a .276 batting average.
Getting the start on the mound for Milwaukee is Freddy Peralta, who’s been blowing away opponents with a 1.80 ERA with 12.5 strikeouts to 1.5 walks per nine innings this season, but has had struggles on the road.
Since the start of the 2023 season, Peralta owns a 3.86 road ERA with 1.3 home runs and over three walks per nine innings and while the bullpen backing him up entered Wednesday eighth in ERA at 3.00, the bullpen has been used more than expected in this series with starting pitcher Wade Miley going on the injured list.
The Pirates entered Wednesday’s as a league-average offense, ranking 16th in Major League Baseball with 4.25 runs per game and with the struggles of Keller, Thursday’s series finale will be one in which both offenses erupt.
The Play: Brewers vs. Pirates Over 7
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