The Brewers are on the verge of clinching the NL Central. It can happen any day now, and will likely happen on the first stop of this road trip in Pittsburgh. Not only could it happen tonight, but they have their best pitcher on the mound for it.
The clinching scenario for tonight is simple. Their magic number for the NL Central is at two. If the Brewers win and the Cubs lose to the Braves, the Brewers will clinch the NL Central for the fourth straight season. If either of those doesn’t happen, they
will have to wait at least one more day. The good news is that regardless of the result, the Brewers will make some progress towards locking up the NL Central or a first-round bye (or both with a win).
If there’s one starter that has a strong chance to get them a win, it’s Jacob Misiorowski. After a rough start to the season, where the Brewers went 2-4 in his first six starts, they are 17-4 in his starts from May forward. One of those rough starts came in April against the Pirates. He allowed three runs in six innings while striking out nine. This is his fourth career start against the Pirates. In his previous three, he has a 2.00 ERA over 18 innings with 25 strikeouts. So far this season, he has a 1.95 ERA and 2.24 FIP with 236 strikeouts in 161 1/3 innings. He’s coming off a strong start against the Cubs, where he allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings while striking out nine.
On the other side, Lake Bachar starts for the Pirates. He was acquired from the Marlins at the trade deadline, but will function more as an opener. Since he was acquired, he has bounced between starts and relief, but his starts have not gone beyond the third inning. The Brewers have faced him three times this season, all in relief. He has allowed two runs in five innings, with one of those an unearned run when the Brewers scored their placed runner in an extra-innings win. Overall this season, he has a 3.52 ERA over 79 1/3 innings with 83 strikeouts.
The Brewers are using a similar lineup to what they used on Sunday, but with a few changes. The top three in the lineup will remain the same. Garrett Mitchell leads off, Jackson Chourio bats second, and Brice Turang bats third. William Contreras is back in the lineup batting fourth, with Jake Bauers and Christian Yelich in the fifth and sixth spots again. Luis Lara and Joey Ortiz switch spots and will bat seventh and eighth, with David Hamilton in the lineup and batting ninth. Ortiz will also shift over to shortstop with Hamilton playing third, as Cooper Pratt is out with an illness.
Here are the full lineups for today. First pitch is at 5:40 p.m.
