Game Thread: Bucs Look to Avoid Sweep

The Pittsburgh Pirates continue their stretch of bad breaks and poor play heading into the series finale on Wednesday evening against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park. The Brew Crew have won each of the last two games of this series, and the Bucs look to right the ship in the midst of a brutal 4-20 stretch since the All-Star Break. Righty Trevor Williams (4-4, 4.75) takes the ball for the Pirates, while southpaw Drew Pomeranz (2-9, 5.54) will make his first start for the visiting squad since being acquired at the Trade Deadline.

Williams looks to fine tune some things tonight, but he’s had a pretty solid last three starts all things considered. Since giving up a putrid eight earned runs on 11 hits over 5.1 innings pitched on July 14th at the Cubs, Project 34 has allowed just six earned runs on 14 hits over the past 18 innings. Two of those starts have been quality starts, and the only real concern has been the seven walks over the three-start span.

Pomeranz has made two appearances for the Brewers since coming over from San Francisco, but this will be his first time taking the mound as a starter in his new threads. He moved to the Giants bullpen after his July 16th start, and he has thrown more than an inning just once in that span. It’ll be interesting to see how “stretched out” the Brewers coaches feel he is. Pomeranz had a rough stretch as a starter in San Fran this season, amassing a brutal 6.10 ERA and 1.70 WHIP in about a three-month span.

Lineups

Brewers

LF Trent Grisham

C Yasmani Grandal

3B Mike Moustakas

2B Keston Hiura

1B Eric Thames

RF Ryan Braun

CF Ben Gamel

SS Orlando Arcia

P Drew Pomeranz

Pirates

SS Kevin Newman

LF Bryan Reynolds

CF Starling Marte

1B Jose Osuna

RF Melky Cabrera

3B Colin Moran

2B Pablo Reyes

C Jacob Stallings

P Trevor Williams