The Brew Crew Weekend

Yah, kind of curveball with this setup. But my boy is getting married Saturday, so you're on your own for this weekend; lots of good guys and material out there for you to keep ya up to speed from MSM to the blogosphere. See ya Monday, if I can pass the interweb sobriety test...

Games: Friday's game is at 8:10, Saturday's at 7:10, and the Sunday matinee at 2:10. All three games will be carried from Miller Park by AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan. Milwaukee is three games behind the Cards in the NL Central standings, one game behind the Nats for the top NL Wild Card spot, and a game ahead of the Cubs for the second NL Wild Card spot. The Brewers have sizzled in September, with a 14-4 record, even with Christian Yelich out. And the Pirates are 4-12 against them this year...

Friday Lineup: Kevin Newman SS, Reynolds CF, Colin Moran 3B, Jose Osuna RF, Adam Frazier 2B, Pablo Reyes LF, Jake Stallings C, Erik Gonzalez, Steve Brault P. Stalls and Pablo are back (injury & paternity leave)

Pitchers:
Friday: LHP Steven Brault (4-5/4.98) opens the set against RHP Chase Anderson (6-4/4.50). Steven has had a pair of rocky back-to-back starts, giving up 16 runs (15 earned), covering just eight innings. Regression? September dead arm? Stay tuned... This should be a good pairing. Though he hasn't gotten a decision against the Crew, he has a 2.66 ERA in four starts against them this season. Anderson has lasted just four frames in his last four starts; he's almost become an opener pitcher for Milwaukee. He's 1-0/3.48 in four starts against the Pirates this year, and lasted just a little longer than his last few outings, averaging five frames per start.

Steven starts it off - photo Joe Guzy/Pirates

Saturday: RHP James Marvel (0-2/9.00) v RHP Zach Davies (10-7/3.70). Marvel was solid against the Cards and chased off the hill by the Cubs. He's projected as a back-end starter by evaluators, so the hype around his call up was probably overdrummed. Like Mitch, he's in a good spot for teaching moments as both learn what works and what doesn't in the show in a no-pressure setting. Davis is another Brewer who goes just five innings. He's been tough on Pittsburgh, going 2-0/2.31 in four starts.

Sunday: RHP Trevor Williams (7-7/5.59) v TBD. Willy's given up 11 runs in his last two starts, lasting just eight innings, so he's another Bucco starter with the September blues. He's faced Milwaukee once this year, giving up six runs in five frames.

Notes:

• Starling Marte and Josh Bell will both be out for this series.
• The Pirates haven't homered since the San Francisco series, matching their current 0-6 run.
• The blog will still be updated with daily history posts at oldbucs.blogspot.com