Game 118 : Pirates @ Brewers : 08.13.11 : Live Game Thread!

[Kipper]

[Kipper]

Reserved

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... Nationally telecast on FOX at 4pm.... I like it....

[Kipper]

From David Todd :

Diaz gets start in RF vs. RHP today, batting #2, Doumit C, #6, Alvarez 3B, #7. Correia on the hill looking for another road win.

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Pirates-Brewers Preview
STATS LLC

On the surface, handing the ball to baseball's leader in road wins while getting to face a fringe major leaguer with six career starts should be good news for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

For Pittsburgh, however, nothing in Milwaukee ever comes easy.

Kevin Correia looks for his 11th road win Saturday afternoon at Miller Park, where the Brewers turn to Marco Estrada as they look to continue their mastery of the Pirates with an 11th consecutive home victory in the series.

Milwaukee (68-51) improved to a major league-best 42-15 at home Friday night with a 7-2 win over Pittsburgh, the 10th victory in their last 11 overall games at Miller Park.

If the Brewers have come to expect perfection at home, they've practically achieved it in recent seasons against the Pirates (56-61). Friday's victory was their 10th straight and 32nd in 34 games when Pittsburgh visits, dating to May 4, 2007.

"They capitalize on opportunities. Offensively at home, they got a lot of confidence," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "They never feel like they are out of an at bat, out of a count. I have been on some teams like that and it is a strong feeling to have."

Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder combined for five hits Friday and each homered as the Brewers maintained their four-game NL Central lead over St. Louis.

"We've just got to keep playing our game ... and keep doing what we can do and worrying about what we can control," catcher Jonathan Lucroy said.

Braun has 19 hits, six homers, 17 RBIs and a stunning 1.614 OPS during the 10-game home winning streak versus Pittsburgh, while Fielder has 13 homers and a .441 on-base percentage during the 32-2 stretch.

Slowing those two down is a big task for any pitcher, but Correia (12-10, 4.78) has typically been up to the challenge of pitching well on the road.

Just 2-8 with a 7.58 ERA at home, Correia has a 2.74 ERA in 13 road starts and Saturday can become the first Pirate to win 11 games away from Pittsburgh since Doug Drabek in his 1990 Cy Young Award-winning season.

Correia has given up 12 runs over 7 2/3 innings in two starts this month, both at home.

Unfortunately for the Pirates, the only blemish on his road record came at Miller Park. The right-hander gave up six runs and eight hits -- including homers to Braun and Casey McGehee -- while lasting just four innings in a 9-6 loss May 15, falling to 1/3 with a 7.97 ERA in four starts at Milwaukee.

It appears Pittsburgh will catch a break in facing Estrada (2-7, 4.80), who moves in from the bullpen to replace Chris Narveson, who needed eight stitches after slicing his thumb while trying to repair his glove.

Estrada is 1-2 with a 6.37 ERA in six career starts, and hasn't been any better lately out of the bullpen. In 9 1/3 innings since July 9, the right-hander has allowed 16 hits and has a 6.75 ERA.

He's only given up one hit in four scoreless relief innings against Pittsburgh, however. Should Estrada falter, recently-recalled Frankie De La Cruz is expected to relieve him.

The Pirates will try again Saturday to match their win total from 2010, and they figure to have a better chance if Derrek Lee can return. The veteran first baseman, acquired from Baltimore on July 30, has missed the past two games with a sore left hand.

Lee has a 1.195 OPS in his last eight games in Milwaukee.

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Regular Season Series

Milwaukee leads 6-0 (as of Sat 8/13)

Tue 4/12	Postponed/Delayed
Wed 4/13	MIL 6, @PIT 0
Thu 4/14	MIL 4, @PIT 1
Fri 5/13	@MIL 5, PIT 2
Sat 5/14	@MIL 8, PIT 2
Sun 5/15	@MIL 9, PIT 6
Fri 8/12	@MIL 7, PIT 2

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Research Notes

Kevin Correia is 2-8 with a 7.58 ERA and 1.74 WHIP in 12 games at home this season. He is 10-2 with a 2.74 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 13 games on the road.

[Kipper]

Research Notes

Kevin Correia is 2-8 with a 7.58 ERA and 1.74 WHIP in 12 games at home this season. He is 10-2 with a 2.74 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 13 games on the road.

Unfortunately over Correia's career he's been bad at Miller Park :

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Starting Pitchers


Pittsburgh: Correia (12-10, 4.78 ERA)
Milwaukee: Estrada (2-7, 4.80 ERA)

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Pitching Matchup

	Kevin Correia 12-10, 4.78 ERA Last appearance: 8/07 vs SD 5.2 IP, 4 ER Dec = Loss		Marco Estrada 2-7, 4.80 ERA Last appearance: 8/07 at HOU 0.2 IP, 2 ER Dec = ND

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Pittsburgh vs. Milwaukee
Pittsburgh Pirates (56-61) at Milwaukee Brewers (68-51), 4:10 p.m.

(Sports Network) - It was less than a month ago that the Pirates were atop the National League Central as one of the biggest surprises in baseball.

Now they aren't even above .500.

Pittsburgh hopes to snap a 10-game series losing streak to the first-place Milwaukee Brewers and even a three-game set today at Miller Park.

A victory over the Braves on July 25 kept the Pirates in a virtual tie with the Cardinals for first place, but Pittsburgh has posted just a 3-14 record since to fall 11 games behind first-place Milwaukee after dropping last night's opener, 7-2.

Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun both homered for the Brewers, who have won 14 of their last 16 overall and improved to 34-3 in their past 37 games at home. That has them four games ahead of the second-place Cardinals in the standings.

Zack Greinke didn't waste the support, holding the Pirates to a pair of runs on six hits, walking only one and striking out nine over 7 2/3 innings.

"That's probably as good as I've seen him. His location was outstanding, and his fastball was going in and out of the zone," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said about Greinke.

Paul Maholm lasted five innings in the loss, getting charged with four runs, one of them unearned. Michael McKenry had two hits, drove in a run and scored once for the Pirates, who have lost all six of their meetings with the Brewers this year and are 5-19 in this series since the beginning of last season.

"We're well aware of how well they hit at home," said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. "It was a good push back by us, but before you knew it they got a lot of separation."

Pittsburgh is currently six games under .500 at home, but 30-29 as the road team this year. It hopes that fact can help Kevin Correia get on track as he is 10-2 with a 2.74 earned run average in 13 games on the road this year but currently in the midst of a brutal six-start stretch.

Correia is 1-4 with an 8.89 ERA over his past six outings, with four of those taking place at home. He has given up 24 earned runs in Pittsburgh over that time, including 12 in back-to-back losses. Eight of those came over just two innings versus the Cubs on Aug. 2 and the 30-year-old was touched for another four runs on five hits and four walks five days later in a defeat to the Padres.

He has fallen to 12-10 with a 4.78 ERA in 25 games this season, which includes a pair of setbacks to the Brewers. Correia has allowed 10 earned runs in 10 innings against them this year, giving up homers to Braun, Fielder and Casey McGehee. Braun has done especially well versus him in 2011, posting three hits and four RBI in five at-bats.

With Chris Narveson landing on the disabled list due to lacerated left thumb, right-hander Marco Estrada will come out of the bullpen to make his first start since May 4 for the Brew Crew.

Estrada was tagged for seven runs over 5 1/3 innings on that day in Atlanta and will make his 33rd appearance of the season and fifth start. He is 2-7 with a 4.80 ERA and will be supported by Frankie De La Cruz, who was called up from Triple-A Nashville to take Narveson's place on the roster and serve as the long man out of the bullpen.

"[Estrada] pitched so well in the starting role in the beginning of the season that we thought we ought to go with him," Roenicke told Milwaukee's website. "Whether [he goes] four innings, it doesn't matter that much, with having De La Cruz here now we can cover the innings."

The 28-year-old Estrada has faced the Pirates twice in his career, both in a relief role, and has held them scoreless over four innings with five strikeouts.

He won't have to face recently-acquired Pirates first baseman Derrek Lee, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday due to a fractured bone in his left wrist.

Lee hasn't played since Aug. 9 and is hitting .278 with a pair of homers and three RBI in five games with the Pirates.

[Palmetto Steel]

Pittsburgh Pirates

Andrew McCutchen CF	.274	427	117	16	67
Matt Diaz RF	.270	200	54	0	18
Garrett Jones 1B	.245	310	76	13	45
Neil Walker 2B	.272	438	119	9	67
Ryan Ludwick LF	.242	414	100	11	69
Ryan Doumit C	.284	109	31	5	16
Pedro Alvarez 3B	.203	187	38	3	15
Ronny Cedeno SS	.248	303	75	2	27
Kevin Correia P	.093	43	4	0	3

Kevin Correia P	12	10	.545	141.1	4.78

Milwaukee Brewers

Corey Hart RF	.273	330	90	17	43
Nyjer Morgan CF	.321	252	81	3	27
Ryan Braun LF	.323	399	129	22	76
Prince Fielder 1B	.308	416	128	27	89
Casey McGehee 3B	.237	417	99	8	53
Yuniesky Betancourt SS	.270	400	108	8	50
Jerry Hairston Jr. 2B	.260	235	61	4	24
Jonathan Lucroy C	.285	316	90	8	49
Marco Estrada P	.222	9	2	0	0

Marco Estrada P	2	7	.222	65.2	4.80

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Injury Report

Derrek Lee 1B - Aug 13: 15-Day DL Jose Tabata LF - Aug 12: 15-Day DL Alex Presley LF - Aug 12: 15-Day DL Kevin Hart SP - Aug 10: 60-Day DL James McDonald SP - Aug 9: Day-To-Day

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"Play Ball!"...

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'Cutch flies to left... 1 out