The Milwaukee Brewers have played some of their best baseball of late without making up much ground in the playoff race, so they need to continue their hot streak when they begin a three-game road series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday. The only thing the Pirates have to play for is staying out of the cellar in the National League Central - they’re only two games ahead of last-place Cincinnati after Sunday's 5-2 loss to the Reds.
The Brewers have won seven of their last nine contests, including a three-game sweep of first-place Chicago, but they remain four games behind the Cubs and 2 1/2 in back of Colorado for the second NL wild card. "When you're chasing, you have little margin for error,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell told reporters. “The teams ahead of us are doing a good job of winning games, and we know the margin is slim. Losses make it a little bit slower. We'll answer." Pittsburgh's Jameson Taillon makes his first start in 11 days and looks to turn around a rocky second half during which he's posted a 7.17 ERA in 11 starts. Taillon has to deal with a Brewers lineup that matched a season high with 16 hits in Sunday’s 10-3 win over Miami, although half of those hits came during an eight-run fourth inning.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh
PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers LH Brent Suter (2-2, 3.66 ERA) vs. Pirates RH Jameson Taillon (7-6, 4.78)
Suter doesn’t have a win since July 28, going 0-1 with a 6.33 ERA in six games (five starts) since then. The 28-year-old still is getting stretched out after returning from a rotator cuff injury on Sept. 3 and was limited to 50 pitches over three innings against the Pirates on Tuesday, but he should throw 70-75 this time around. Suter has posted a 2.77 ERA without recording a decision in six games (two starts) versus Pittsburgh.
Taillon is winless in his last five starts, going 0-1 with a 5.84 ERA since a triumph at Toronto on Aug. 11. The 25-year-old former No. 2 overall draft pick was tagged for six runs and 11 hits over 4 2/3 innings in a loss to the Cubs on Sept. 7 before getting some extra rest. Taillon is 1-2 with a 3.76 ERA in five career turns against the Brewers, including a win in the only meeting this season.
WALK-OFFS
1. Brewers RF Domingo Santana is 9-for-25 with two doubles and a homer during his six-game hitting streak and has recorded multiple RBIs in three of his last four contests.
2. Pirates INF John Jaso hit his 10th home run Sunday, giving Pittsburgh seven players with double digits in homers.
3. Milwaukee’s bullpen has allowed only four earned runs in 36 2/3 innings over the last nine games.