The Milwaukee Brewers will turn to veteran right-hander Freddy Peralta as they look to bounce back against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday.
Peralta (7-4, 2.76 ERA) will be opposed by left-hander Andrew Heaney (3-6, 3.94).
The Pirates took the series opener 5-4 on Monday. Nick Gonzales had a career-high five hits — two doubles and three singles — and drove in two runs, and Tommy Pham homered for the Pirates, who won back-to-back games for the first time since June 9.
The Brewers had won their four previous games, scoring 43 runs over that span. They dropped to 36-9 when scoring four or more runs.
“How do you get mad at a team that’s done what they’ve done since the end of May?” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “But it just goes to show you. Any guy on the mound, anybody beats anybody.”
Christian Yelich continued his hot stretch with two hits, including his 15th homer. Yelich is hitting .402 over his last 26 games with eight homers, six doubles and 30 RBIs.
Brice Turang extended his hitting streak to eight games with an RBI single. He is hitting .364 over that span.
Peralta is 3-1 with a 2.89 ERA in his last seven starts. He is 2-1 with a 2.74 ERA in four outings this month, winning his last two starts.
In his last start, he allowed three runs in five innings, giving up two homers, but got the win in an 8-7 road victory over the Chicago Cubs.
Peralta is 2-2 with a 3.48 ERA in 23 career appearances, including 14 starts, against Pittsburgh. He has faced the Pirates once this season, allowing two runs (one earned) in 4 1/3 innings, but did not get the decision in a 6-5 loss in late May.
The Pirates banged out 14 hits in the opener after getting 15 hits in an 8-3 victory over Texas on Sunday. It was the first time Pittsburgh recorded back-to-back games with at least 14 hits since May 2023.
Prior to his home run, Pham was one of six players in the major leagues with more than 180 plate appearances and no home runs.
Heaney will be looking to bounce back after giving up a season-high seven runs in four innings in a 9-2 loss at Detroit on Thursday.
“It’s not the first time I’ve had a bad start. I’ve had plenty of them in my career,” Heaney said after his last outing. “You’ve just got to go out there, do the same thing, prepare yourself and go make better pitches, and have a better outing next time.”
He has a 6.07 ERA over his last five starts, going 0-3 while yielding 18 earned runs in 26 2/3 innings.
Heaney is 1-2 with a 4.66 ERA in four career starts vs. Milwaukee.
–Field Level Media
