pittsburgh pirates Will turn to his ace on Saturday when they look to snap a four-game losing streak
Right-hander Mitch Keller (8-2, 3.41 ERA) is ready to take the mound. Pirates continue the three-match series against the hosts Milwaukee Brewerswho won the opener 5-4 on Friday
Joey Wiemer homered and Blake Perkins drove in two runs for Milwaukee, ending a six-game losing streak and moving into first place in the National League Central.
Keller has won five of his last seven bouts. He retired the last 10 batters he faced in a 2-1 victory over the New York Mets on Sunday, when he allowed one run over seven innings.
After giving up a total of 15 runs over his previous three innings, Keller gave up just two hits and two walks while striking out seven against the Mets.
“He commanded the zone, went right after guys and executed all his pitches,” Pirates said manager Derek Shelton. “It was a good bounce-back outing for Mitch.
Keller, 27, has a 4.10 ERA in seven road starts this season, while posting a 2.78 mark in seven home outings.
Willie Adams is 4-for-12 with a home run against Keller, who is 0-2 with a 3.98 ERA in four career starts versus Milwaukee.
Will start for left-hander Wade Miley (3-2, 3.67 ERA) Brewers After missing the previous month due to a left leg strain. The 36-year-old veteran pitched five scoreless innings in his rehab debut for Double-A Biloxi on Sunday.
miley last Brewers On May 16, he allowed one run in 1 2/3 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals before leaving due to injury.
Andrew McCutchen is 4-for-22 (.182) against Miley, who is 5-5 with a 3.27 ERA in 15 career starts versus Pittsburgh, including 1-1 with a 0.82 ERA in two outings last season.
Pirates Has gone 14-26 since opening the season with a 20-8 mark, but Shelton wasn’t pushing the panic button after Friday’s loss
The manager said, “There’s still a lot of baseball to be played.”
Milwaukee closer Devin Williams struck out Jason Deeley for his 11th save in 12 chances in the ninth inning on Friday with the bases loaded and two outs.
Williams earned a save for the first time this season on Tuesday and struggled again on Friday, when Pirates The ninth yielded a walk and a double with one out. He regrouped and struck out two of the last three batters for the save.
“It’s a long season,” Williams said. “I go out there and I expect to lock in with the first pitch, and that doesn’t always happen. You have to work through stuff sometimes.”
Brewers Outfielder Jesse Winker is expected to be activated later this week. Winker, who has been out since May 28 with a neck injury, went 7-for-20 with three home runs during a rehab assignment with Triple-A Nashville.
Winker is set to rejoin an outfield led by Christian Yelich, who is batting .361 (13-for-36) over his last nine games with five doubles, two homers and five RBI.
– Field Level Media