Pittsburgh Pirates at Milwaukee Brewers

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
PIT	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	5	0
MIL	0	0	1	2	1	0	0	0	—	4	11	0

Logan Henderson (5-1, 2.66 ERA) takes the ball for Milwaukee looking to keep his breakout season rolling, and he's drawn a Pirates lineup that just took him deep for a series-opening win. Jared Jones gets the ball for Pittsburgh at 6:40 PM CT trying to build off a bullpen that got a serious facelift at the deadline.

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FINAL

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ML

Total

Pirates(57-57)

WLWLL

2

+1.5-163+138o7.5+111

Brewers(69-43)

LLWWL

4

-1.5+160-138u7.5-111

Best BetBrewers -164

Pregame

Milwaukee's the best team in baseball for a reason, and Henderson coming off a scoreless outing against a good Giants lineup is the kind of form that should carry against a Pirates offense missing O'Hearn. Pittsburgh just took one from them, so this isn't a layup, but the talent gap says lay the price and back the Brewers to right the ship.

The Pirates spent deadline day adding arms instead of subtracting them, bringing in Luke Weaver, Camilo Doval and Lake Bachar to reshape a relief corps that's been shaky all year. That aggression got overshadowed almost immediately when Mitch Keller went down with a shoulder injury that ends his season, a gut punch for a rotation that was already thin. Jones takes his turn now as Pittsburgh's most trusted arm, and he'll need his last outing's five strikeouts to look more like a floor than a ceiling.

Jared Jones

(2-5)·4.78 ERA

Jul 29 vs Diamondbacks

L

6.0IP

3ER

5K

2BB

77P

08/04 Lineup

Logan Henderson

(7-2)·2.70 ERA

Jul 28 @ Giants

W

5.2IP

0ER

7K

2BB

93P

08/04 Lineup

Milwaukee, meanwhile, is playing with the kind of margin most teams in this division don't get. The Brewers have the best record in the sport and are chasing heights the franchise has never touched, but they've dropped 2 of their last 5 and just got out-slugged at home by the team with the worst record in the division. Henderson's last time out was about as clean as it gets — 7 strikeouts and no runs allowed in 5.2 innings — and Milwaukee needs that version of him to show up again to shut the door on this series.

Pittsburgh Pirates

(57-57)

Aug 3W@ Brewers4-3

Aug 2L@ Reds2-10

Aug 1W@ Reds4-1

Jul 31L@ Reds7-8

Jul 30L@ Reds2-3

Milwaukee Brewers

(69-43)

Aug 3Lvs Pirates3-4

Aug 2L@ Angels0-3

Aug 2W@ Angels3-1

Aug 1W@ Angels6-2

Jul 29L@ Giants3-16

Pittsburgh's lineup is banged up in the outfield with Ryan O'Hearn on the shelf and Oneil Cruz still working back from injury, which puts more pressure on whoever's filling those gaps to produce against a Brewers rotation that's mostly healthy at the top. Milwaukee has its own list of names on the injured list, but most of it is bullpen depth and complementary outfield pieces rather than anything at the top of the roster.

Pittsburgh Pirates

(6)

• 10-Day-ILRyan O'Hearn (RF) — The Pirates placed O'Hearn on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a left quad strain, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.08/01
• 15-Day-ILEvan Sisk (RP) — Sisk (elbow) will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.07/29
• 60-Day-ILMitch Keller (SP) — The Pirates placed Keller on the 60-day injured list Monday due to a right arm teres major muscle injury.08/03
• 60-Day-ILOneil Cruz (CF) — Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Wednesday that Cruz (hand) has been cleared for all baseball activities, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.07/29
• 60-Day-ILChris Devenski (RP) — Devenski (illness) was sent to the rookie-level Florida Complex League on Tuesday to begin a rehab assignment.07/21
• 60-Day-ILKonnor Griffin (SS) — The Pirates transferred Griffin (finger) to the 60-day injured list Saturday, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.07/11

Milwaukee Brewers

(9)

• 10-Day-ILSal Frelick (RF) — Frelick (shoulder) began a hitting progression early last week and started a throwing progression Friday, MLB.com reports.08/03
• 15-Day-ILKyle Harrison (SP) — Harrison (elbow/forearm) is ready to go for Wednesday's start against the Pirates, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.08/03
• 15-Day-ILJoJo Romero (RP) — The Brewers acquired Romero (abdomen) and Dustin May from the Cardinals on Monday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.08/03
• 15-Day-ILJoel Kuhnel (RP) — Kuhnel (shoulder) retired two of the five batters he faced and was charged with two earned runs on three hits and no walks in a rehab appearance Sunday for Triple-A Nashville.08/03
• 60-Day-ILBrandon Woodruff (SP) — Woodruff announced Saturday that he will undergo season-ending capsule repair surgery on his right shoulder, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.07/18
• 60-Day-ILRob Zastryzny (RP) — The Brewers transferred Zastryzny (shoulder) to the 60-day injured list Wednesday.07/16
• 60-Day-ILBrian Fitzpatrick (RP) — Fitzpatrick (elbow) underwent Tommy John surgery over the past week, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.07/05
• 60-Day-ILQuinn Priester (SP) — Priester will undergo thoracic outlet compression surgery on Monday and is expected to be sidelined 8-to-10 months, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.06/18
• 60-Day-ILAngel Zerpa (RP) — The Brewers transferred Zerpa (elbow) to the 60-day injured list Sunday.05/31

This is a get-right spot for Milwaukee against a club it should be beating regularly, and a nothing-to-lose spot for a Pirates team that's already playing out the string on this season. Jones and the newly reinforced bullpen just have to keep it competitive long enough to make the Brewers sweat again.