Pirates at Brewers
Gerrit Cole has made himself at home on the road, winning seven straight away from PNC Park to keep the Pittsburgh Pirates in contention in the National League Central. The 26-year-old ace aims to keep his good fortune going on Wednesday afternoon as the Pirates vie to salvage a split of their abbreviated two-game series against the host Milwaukee Brewers.
Adam Frazier drove in a run with a triple in Tuesday's 3-1 setback to improve to 9-for-25 with three RBIs versus the Brewers this season. Pittsburgh has answered winning five of six by losing three in a row to fall 4 1/2 games behind first-place Chicago in the congested National League Central. Milwaukee moved within 1 1/2 games of the Cubs after posting its third straight win on the heels of a disastrous six-game losing skid. Travis Shaw scored twice on Tuesday and carries an eight-game hitting streak into this tilt versus Cole, against whom he is 2-for-9 in his career.
TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, AT&T SportNet-Pittsburgh, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Gerrit Cole (10-8, 3.96 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Jimmy Nelson (9-6, 3.72)
Cole recorded his seventh straight quality start on Thursday after allowing three runs on six hits across a season-high eight innings of a 7-5 victory at Detroit. The right-hander has handcuffed Milwaukee in three appearances this season, permitting three earned runs while striking out 23 batters against four walks in 21 innings. Cole settled for a no-decision in his last encounter with the Brewers on July 19 despite fanning a campaign-best 10 batters and yielding just one run in seven frames.
Nelson was blitzed for a career-high nine earned runs and 11 hits over 3 2/3 innings of an 11-10 setback versus Cincinnati on Friday. The 28-year-old also tasted defeat in his last encounter with Pittsburgh, yielding four runs on six hits over five innings of a 4-2 loss on July 20. Nelson has struggled against the likes of Starling Marte (.333), Andrew McCutchen (.318) and Josh Harrison (.304).
WALK-OFFS
1. Milwaukee RF Ryan Braun has six extra-base hits and five runs scored during his nine-game hitting streak.
2. Pittsburgh 1B Josh Bell has scored a run in three of his last four games after failing to do so in any of his previous five.
3. Brewers 2B Neil Walker is 9-for-16 with six runs scored during a four-game hitting streak that has been recorded with two teams (Mets).