The Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates are back at it for the third game in a four-game series and this game has the most highly-anticipated pitching matchup of the group.
The Pirates will have their ace Paul Skenes on the mound tonight. Skenes hasn’t been as dominant as his first two seasons in the big leagues, though. Skenes has a 3.90 ERA in 23 starts this year, which, while it isn’t overly terrible, it’s a far cry from the sub-2.00 ERAs he posted in his rookie and sophomore campaigns.
Meanwhile,
the Brewers had to make a roster move to be able to start their starting pitcher tonight. Kyle Harrison makes his long-awaited return to the rotation after a few weeks on the IL. The Brewers optioned right-handed reliever Grant Anderson to Triple-A to make roster space for Harrison. Harrison has a 3.01 ERA in 17 starts this year for the Crew. He has 101 strikeouts to just 20 walks on the year.
Grant Anderson has been a serviceable reliever for the Brewers for the past two years. He has a 3.70 ERA in 44 games this year and has been dominant against righties, allowing just a .175 batting average and .504 OPS to them. However, against left-handed hitters, Anderson has been rocked, giving up a .265 opponent batting average and a 1.029 OPS.
The Brewers are hoping to be able to rock Skenes in tonight’s game even though they’re missing one of their best lefties. Jake Bauers remains out of the lineup as he is day-to-day with abdominal soreness following his dive into home plate during Monday’s game. Pat Murphy has three true lefties in the lineup with Brice Turang leading off, Garrett Mitchell hitting third, and Christian Yelich batting fifth. Switch-hitters Luis Lara and David Hamilton are batting seventh and ninth, respectively, giving the Brewers alternating left-handed hitting options up and down the lineup against Skenes.
Joey Ortiz remains out of the lineup in favor of David Hamilton despite swinging a hot bat over the last month plus.
The Pirates keep the top of their lineup the same, rolling with Jake Mangum, Brandon Lowe, and Bryan Reynolds to begin the order. Esmerlyn Valdez, Nick Gonzales, and Endy Rodriguez make up the middle of the lineup. Then Jared Triolo, Rafael Flores Jr, and Jhostynxon Garcia round out the bottom of the order that will face Kyle Harrison.
When Skenes is on, he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball. Even though he hasn’t been as dominant this year, with the Brewers offense playing like they have been lately, runs could be tough to come by in this game.
