Brewers vs. Pirates - 8/13/2021

Milwaukee Brewers (70-46) at Pittsburgh Pirates (41-74) - Friday, Aug. 13, 2021 @ 7:05 p.m.

Stadium: PNC Park, Pittsburgh

TV: AT&T SportsNet

Radio: 93.7 The Fan

SB Nation Brewers site: www.brewcrewball.com

Starting Pitchers

Brewers: Brett Anderson - LHP - (4-5) – 3.54 ERA - 44 total Ks

Pirates: Mitch Keller - RHP - (3-9) – 7.06 ERA – 57 total Ks

Probable Starting Lineups (subject to last-minute changes)

Brewers

1. Kolten Wong – 2B

2. Willy Adames – SS

3. Christian Yelich – LF

4. Eduardo Escobar – 3B

5. Omar Narvaez – C

6. Luis Urias – 3B

7. Jace Peterson – RF

8. Lorenzo Cain – CF

9. Brett Anderson – P

Pirates

1. Hoy Park– CF

2. Ke’Bryan Hayes – 3B

3. Bryan Reynolds – CF

4. Colin Moran – 1B

5. Jacob Stallings – C

6. Rodolfo Castro – 2B

7. Gregory Polanco – RF

8. Anthony Alford – LF

9. Mitch Keller – P

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The Pittsburgh Pirates will look to put a halt to an ugly eight-game losing streak when they host the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers at 7:05 p.m. today at PNC Park.

The Pirates haven’t put one in the win column since Aug. 3, when they pulled out an 8-5 10-inning victory over the same Brewers at American Family Field.

Mitch Keller will get the start for Pittsburgh, and he’ll be lugging a 3-9 record and an unsightly 7.06 ERA with him to the mound. Brett Anderson (4-5, 3.54) will open for the Brew Crew.

In a season full of disappointment, perhaps no one player more embodies that than Keller, who at one time figured to be the ace of the Pirates rotation but has yet to prove he’s even capable of being a starter in the big leagues.

Keller opened the season in the starting rotation but after a dozen starts, he was sent down to Triple-A Indianapolis, where he made eight appearances, six of which were starts. Keller returned to the major leagues Aug. 1, and in that start he went five innings and gave up four earned runs and eight hits in an 8-3 loss to the Phillies. The good news: he did not walk a batter and struck out two during his 80-pitch outing.

His most recent outing, which came Saturday in a 9-3 loss to the Reds, was pretty much more of the same. In that start, Keller needed 100 pitches to complete five innings, this time giving up seven hits and four earned runs, walking four and striking out four.

NOTES: Christian Yelich, who missed most of two weeks after testing positive for COVID-19, has had his troubles since returning to the active roster. Yelich is hitting .158/.396 in 21 plate appearances over six games, and he does not have an extra-base hit. ... Anthony Alford has struck out 10 times in 17 at-bats since being recalled from Indianapolis. He has yet to draw a walk. ... No. 1 draft choice Henry Davis wasted no time in making an impact after his promotion to High-A Greensboro Thursday, as he drove one off the wall in left in his first at-bat. Davis attempted to circle the bases for an inside-the-park home run, but was thrown out at the plate and got credited for a triple. He grounded into a force play in his second at-bat, struck out swinging the next time up and walked in his final plate appearance of the night.