The Milwaukee Brewers have played extremely well against their division so far this season. Against the Cubs and Cardinals, they boast a 6-3 record, three series wins, and find themselves tied for first in the NL Central. They will look to continue their success against the woeful Pittsburgh Pirates, who have played the Brewers well in recent seasons. The Pirates come into the series 5-8, last in the division. The season, however, is young and they are just 2.5 games back of the Brewers.
Game One: Friday, April 16- Adrian Houser vs JT Brubaker
The Crew will kick off the series by sending Adrian Houser to the mound against JT Brubaker and the Pirates. Houser is 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA, and is coming off a strong outing against the Cardinals. He pitched five innings, gave up an unearned run, and induced 12 ground balls. Houser will be facing a Pirates roster that has done well against him in the past. In particular, Colin Moran is hitting .667 against him in nine at bats with a home run.
JT Brubaker has been the Pirates’ best starter so far this season. He is currently 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA and 10 strikeouts in two starts. He allowed four walks in his first start of the year, but only gave up one run in four innings. In his previous start, he went 5.1 innings and walked one while allowing just one run. The current Brewers’ roster has not seen Brubaker much, but Christian Yelich does have a home run against him in four at bats.
Game Two: Saturday, April 17- Brett Anderson vs Trevor Cahill
Brett Anderson has made six career starts against the Pirates and owns a 3.45 ERA in those outings. He is currently 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA, but is coming off a very strong start against the Cardinals. In his last game, Anderson pitched five solid innings and only allowed one run. No current Pirates’ player has hit a home run off of Anderson, but Adam Frazier does own a .667 average against him in six at bats.
Trevor Cahill is currently 0-1 with a 8.00 ERA in two starts. His ERA was inflated by his first start of the season in which he gave up seven runs to the Reds. In his previous start, though, he held the Padres to just one run while striking out eight in five innings of work. Daniel Vogelbach has hit Cahill well in the past, and sports a .429 average against him with a home run in seven at bats.
Game Three: Sunday, April 18- Freddy Peralta vs Chad Kuhl
Has there been a better surprise in the Brewers’ starting rotation than Freddy Peralta? The former starter-turned reliever-now starter again is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA and 24 strikeouts this season. He is coming off a great start against the Cubs in which he pitched six innings and struck out 10. He is currently sporting a 16.6 strikeouts per nine innings ratio, which is the best in the Majors. No current Pirates’ player has hit a home run off of Peralta, but Kevin Newman has five RBI and a .600 average against him in five at bats.
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Chad Kuhl’s 2021 season is not off to a great start. The Pirates are 2-1 in his starts, but he has struggled mightily. He is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA and eight strikeouts in his three starts. In his first game against the Cubs, he went just three innings, gave up two runs (one earned), and walked three while striking out two. In his next start, he went just four innings, gave up five runs (four earned), and walked five while striking out five. To continue his trend, he pitched just 3.2 innings in his previous start, giving up four runs (three earned) and walked a whopping seven batters while striking out just one.
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