Pirates at Brewers
The National League Central is the tightest division in the majors, with four teams within 4 1/2 games of first place. Two of those four will square off when the third-place Milwaukee Brewers host the fourth-place Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday in the opener of a two-game series.
The Brewers spent most of the first half in first place before falling off the pace but pulled out of a six-game slide with back-to-back wins over the weekend as the offense took center stage. Milwaukee, which started to break out in an 11-10 loss on Friday, piled up 13 runs in wins on Saturday and Sunday over the Cincinnati Reds and got a boost in the series finale from new No. 4 hitter Neil Walker, who went 2-for-4 in his team debut after being acquired from the New York Mets. The Pirates sit two games behind the Brewers, who are 2 1/2 in back of the first-place Chicago Cubs, and are not enjoying as much success with the bats after managing a total of three runs in back-to-back losses at Toronto over the weekend. Pittsburgh will try to find enough offense on Tuesday to support struggling right-hander Ivan Nova, who goes up against Milwaukee righty Zach Davies.
TV: 7:40 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Ivan Nova (10-9, 3.87 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Zach Davies (13-6, 4.40)
Nova is 0-3 in his last four starts and struggled mightily at Detroit on Wednesday, when he was knocked around for six runs on 10 hits and a pair of walks over 6 1/3 innings. The Dominican Republic native owns a 6.67 ERA in five starts since the All-Star break, with 43 hits allowed in 28 1/3 total innings. Nova surrendered a season-high 11 hits and four runs over seven innings to suffer a loss at Milwaukee on June 22.
Davies had a string of four straight quality starts come to a crashing halt on Thursday against Minnesota, when he was ripped for seven runs - six earned - and 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings. The 24-year-old enjoyed one of his best starts in his previous turn - allowing one hit in seven scoreless innings at Tampa Bay. Davies was ripped for seven runs in five innings at home against the Pirates on June 20, but was better at Pittsburgh on July 19 when he scattered eight hits and an unearned run over seven frames.
WALK-OFFS
1. Pirates C Francisco Cervelli (hand) left Sunday's game and is day-to-day.
2. Milwaukee 3B Travis Shaw (knee, foot) had x-rays come back negative but sat out Sunday and is day-to-day.
3. Pittsburgh RF Gregory Polanco (hamstring) sat out Sunday and could be placed on the 10-day disabled list.