The playoff-bound Milwaukee Brewers get set to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second of a three-game set Wednesday night inside PNC Park from Pittsburgh, PA. They toss out the first pitch at 6:40 pm.
Bookmaker has installed the Brewers - 145 ML.
The Brewers have clinched the NL Central and have had a very solid season, winning more than 85 games. They have shown they have a solid balance between hitting and pitching, and even though they will not blow you away by scoring a ton of runs, they play smart baseball as a team.
On offense, they are led by several players, including veteran catcher William Contreas, who has smacked 23 home runs and has provided some outstanding leadership this season. The Brewers are also getting some solid numbers from 29-year-old shortstop Willy Adames, who has put together a brilliant season, where he has cracked a team-high and career-high 32 home runs while driving in 110 runs, too. He is batting .250 as well and has provided a slick glove.
They will hand the ball over to Freddy Peralta in this one. He sports a mark of 11-8 with an ERA of 3.69 on the season and has won two out of his last four starts. He has fanned 193 batters in just over 168 innings of work.
The Pirates will not join the Brewers when the playoffs roll around. Instead, they will be asking some questions when the off-season rolls around, and they hope they can find some answers, too. They need to fix their lineup and bring in some veteran sluggers to help jump-start a very anemic offense.
Pittsburgh's run differential this season stands at -72, and it is almost incredible that they have won over 70 games with those numbers. They are led by left-fielder Bryan Reynolds, who has hit over 20 home runs this season. He is batting a solid .278 and has driven in over 80 runs. He is an excellent player to build around going forward.
The Pirates will hand the ball over to Luis Ortiz, who has a record of 6-6 and an ERA of 3.43. The Pirates would love to get some early runs, back their starter, and try to make his job a tad easier. They have had issues scoring runs early in games.
The Pirates are 2-3 in their last five games and 2-3 in their previous five games against the spread. They are also 43-35 in their road games against the number. The totals have gone over in two out of their last five games and 39 out of their last 79 games at home.
The Brewers are 2-3 in their previous five games and 1-4 in their last five games against the spread. They are also 41-37 in their road games against the spread. The totals have gone over in a pair of games over their last five contests.
