Lineup, Notes, News for Brew Crew Two

RHP A.J. Burnett (15-5, 3.67 ERA) takes the bump against the Brewers RHP Marco Estrada (2-5, 4.02). AJ had a rough August, traditionally his toughest month (26-26, 4.54), but his career line shows that he returns to form again in September (22-19, 3.99); let's hope he picks it up during the stretch. After a pretty strong July, Estrada, who missed time with a quad injury earlier in the season, has been spotty in August. The game starts at 7:10 and will be aired by Root Sports.

The lineup: Alex Presley LF, Travis Snider RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Josh Harrison 2B, Rod Barajas C, Clint Barmes SS, AJ Burnett P.

The Kid is still out, and it looks as if Presley/Tabata will become a tag team in left.

Milwaukee is 8-2 in their last ten games, and they've been doing it with pitching. The Brew Crew has surrendered three or fewer runs in six of those wins. Pittsburgh is 3-7 during the same stretch and tossed a shutout during each win.

• Cutch has missed six games because of the flu and R&R days. Pittsburgh is 0-6 when he's off.
• Joel Hanrahan has had one save opp since August 8th, and still leads the league with 34 saves.
• Jim Callis of Baseball America was asked to rate the first base class from the draft of 2008, and has Pedro included. He said "Alvarez is destined to shift to first base, and I like him...I'd rate their futures in this order: Eric Hosmer, Pedro Alvarez, Yonder Alonso, Ike Davis, Justin Smoak, Brett Wallace, (and) David Cooper." 
• Indy gave out their team awards yesterday. The winners were RHP Rick VandenHurk, MVP (13-5, 2.92); LHP Jeff Locke, Starter of the Year (10-2, 2.48); RHP Tim Wood, Reliever of the Year (6 wins, 21 saves, 2.19 ERA); OF Brandon Boggs, Offensive Player of the Year (.261, 9 HR); and IF Anderson Hernandez, Defensive Player of the Year (2B-SS-3B-OF).
• LHP Daniel Moskos was removed from the White Sox 40-man today. He's been pitching in AAA Charlotte since Chicago claimed him from the Pirates earlier this summer.
• Bad news for the Cards: SS Raffy Furcal is done for the year after suffering a torn ligament in his right elbow. Cincy got good news: 1B Joey Votto is expected to return from the DL on Monday.
• How some old Bucs are doing in Japan: OF Lastings Milledge - .307/.376/.491, 19 HR, 55 RBI in 430 AB; OF/1B John Bowker - .182/.258/.284, 3 HR, 9 RBI in 176 AB; and RHP Bryan Bullington - 6-10, 3.47 ERA, 112/37 K/BB in 137-1/3 IP. (Thanks to Hardball Talk's Matthew Pouliot)