Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Milwaukee Brewers Prediction, Picks and Preview – July 17, 2015

Pittsburgh (53-35) moved to within 3.5 games of St. Louis for first place in the National League Central standings with a nerve-wracking victory over the league-leading Cardinals on Sunday. The streaking Pirates will look to slice that deficit even further when they face the Milwaukee Brewers (38-52) in Game 1 of their three-game series this coming Friday.

Read on below for an in-depth breakdown of this divisional matchup and while you’re at it, you can check out our MLB previews of Cubs vs. Braves and Mariners vs. Yankees.
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Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Milwaukee Brewers Preview

Where: Miller Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

When: Friday, July 17, 8:10 PM ET

Line: Pittsburgh Pirates at Milwaukee Brewers – view all MLB lines

Betting on the Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates will head to the second half of the season with momentum on their side after recording a narrow 6-5 win over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday. Gregory Polanco capped another late rally for Pittsburgh, driving in Jung Ho Kang with two outs in the 10th inning to lead the Pirates to their third consecutive win.

[sc:MLB240banner ]The Bucs will look to keep the winning streak alive when they take on the Brewers this coming Friday. Starting for the Pirates in the series opener is Charlie Morton (6-2, 4.15 ERA). He was solid in his last start, allowing just two runs on five hits in six innings of action in Pittsburgh’s 5-2 win over San Diego on July 8.

The Bucs have won eight of their last 10 games with Morton as their starter. Morton was superb in his last start against the Brewers on June 10, throwing 7.1 scoreless innings in Pittsburgh’s 2-0 victory. The 31-year-old allowed three hits and struck out six in that shutout win.

Expected to lead the Pittsburgh offense in this matchup is the red-hot Andrew McCutchen. He leads the team in hits (92), RBIs (56), walks (46) and on-base percentage (.392) this season. He is also the Pirates’ second-leading home run hitter with 12 this year. He will be licking his chops at the prospect of facing Milwaukee’s Mike Fiers this coming Friday. He is 6-of-16 (.375) lifetime against Fiers with four homers and nine RBIs.

The total has gone over in Pittsburgh’s last four road games.

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Betting on the Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers ended the first half of the season on a sour note after absorbing a gut-wrenching 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to give the Dodgers their 24th comeback victory this season. It was a disappointing result for the Brewers who lost for the first time this year when leading after seven innings.

The Brewers will look to return to the win column when they take on the Pittsburgh Pirates this coming Friday. Starting for Milwaukee in the series opener is Mike Fiers (4-7, 3.96 ERA). The Brewers are unbeaten in Fiers’ last four starts. Fiers was Milwaukee’s most valuable starter in the first half, leading the team in WAR (1.0, per FanGraphs’ measure), strikeouts per nine innings (8.6) and FIP (3.87).

Fiers can’t do it all alone, though, and he needs the Brewers’ batters to contribute as well on the offensive end. One guy who’s expected to carry the scoring weight for Milwaukee against Pittsburgh is Ryan Braun. He leads the team in homers (16), RBIs (56) and hits (86) this season.  He will fancy his chances against the Pirates in the series opener as he is 8-of-20 (.400) in his career against Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton. He has one homer and five RBIs against the right-hander.

The Brewers are 5-5 in their last 10 home games.

Writer’s Prediction

Pittsburgh wins, 5-4.
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