Through five games this season, the Milwaukee Brewers are encountering little difficulty producing offense against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Milwaukee leads the season series 4-1 thanks to consistent production at the plate, and the Brewers hope to keep it going Saturday when they host Pittsburgh in the middle game of a three-game set.
Milwaukee (36-28) is a season-high tying eight games over .500 and is 7-4 in its last 11 games. In their five games against the Pirates, the Brewers have totaled 41 runs, hit 14 homers and batted .300 (61-for-203).
On Friday, Milwaukee opened the series with a 10-4 victory by generating 14 hits. Ryan Braun hit a three-run home run, Eric Thames hit a two-run homer and Christian Yelich collected three hits. While Braun is 3-for-19 against Pittsburgh this year, Yelich is 8-for-25 and Thames is 5-for-14 with three homers.
“It’s a testament to how good our offense is,” Milwaukee starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff told reporters after striking out 10 in six innings Friday. “They come out and they swing the bat and are able to put up runs.”
So far, Pittsburgh is getting outscored 41-30 by the Brewers.
Pittsburgh’s big bats did little Friday, including Josh Bell going 0-for-3. Bell is batting .368 in his last 36 contests but is 4-for-24 against Milwaukee.
Bryan Reynolds had a pair of RBI doubles and is batting .404 (23-for-57) during a 16-game hitting streak that is the longest active streak in the majors.
Milwaukee Zach Davies can follow up a strong outing by Woodruff.
Davies is 6-0 with a 2.20 ERA and resembling the pitcher who was 17-9 two years ago. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 11 of 12 starts so far, including Sunday in Pittsburgh when he allowed two runs on eight hits in eight innings during a 4-2 win.
Davies is 3-5 with a 5.40 ERA in 10 career starts against Pittsburgh. He has limited Bell to two hits in 14 at-bats, striking him out five times.
Pittsburgh will start Jordan Lyles, who is 5-3 with a 3.38 ERA. Lyles is opposing Davies for the second consecutive start after allowing four runs on eight hits in six innings in Sunday’s loss.
Lyles has dropped his last two outings and owns a 7.47 ERA since his 12-strikeout game May 12 in San Diego. Pittsburgh will also hope Lyles can get deep into the game after needing five innings from its relievers, who allowed seven runs Friday and own a 5.62 ERA this season.
“The weakest part of any team is your middle relief, and we’ve struggled there,” general manager Neal Huntington said on his radio show Sunday. “I haven’t done a good job of getting the right guys at the right time in the right spots, and it’s hurt us, there’s no doubt about it.”
Lyles is 3-4 with a 3.86 ERA in 13 career games (eight starts) against Milwaukee.