Bucs - Brewers Lineup, Pre-Game; Locke, Stewart to Indy...

Francisco Liriano (0-1, 3.00) and Wily Peralta (0-0, 3.60 ERA) kick off the Brewer-Bucco series at Miller Park tonight. The lineup: Starling Marte LF, Travis Snider RF, Cutch CF, Pedro 3B, Russ Martin C, Neil Walke 2B, Travis Ishikawa 1B, Jordy Mercer SS and Liriano P.

Milwaukee is on a six-game winning streak and a game ahead of the Bucs in the Central Division standings. They just swept the Red Sox and Phils on the road while scoring 42 runs as Carlos Gomez and Ryan Braun were enfuego. The good news is that the Brewers lost 12 of the last year's 17 meetings against the Pirates. The Bucs were 5-4 at Miller Park in 2013, which had been a house of horrors for them in previous years.

The game starts at 8:10 and will be aired by Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan. The contest is free on mlb.tv for viewers outside the Pittsburgh market.

• The traditionally slow starting Buccos have won three straight series for the first time since 1992 (six straight) and for the fourth time in the last 50 years (three series in 1976 and 1966).
• Five of Pittsburgh's six wins have been by one run.
• Cutch's bat is off to a slow start, but he leads all NL batters with 10 walks.
• Gerrit Cole is the only Pirate starter with a win; he's 2-0 with a six game regular-season win streak.
• Catchers Russ Martin and Jonathan Lucroy are good at what they do, explained the Tribune-Review's David Golebiewski. And speaking of catchers, Chris Stewart had his rehab assignment transferred from Bradenton to Indianapolis.
• After one rehab start, Jeff Locke was removed from the DL and optioned to Indy.
• Ex-Bucs: OF Gorkys Hernandez is on the move again, going from KC to the White Sox in a minor-league cash deal. SS Pedro Ciriaco cleared waivers and was assigned to AAA by the Royals. OF Darren Ford, who spent last season with Indy, was taken to the hospital after crashing head-first into a wall.