The miserable misery tour rolls into Pittsburgh today, as your fifth-place Milwaukee Brewers swing into the Steel City for a quick two-game series against the fourth-place Pirates. The Brewers mauled the Bucs in a three-game series in Pittsburgh earlier this year, but now the Crew is in the midst of an eight-game losing streak. At what point do we reach the bottom of the barrel? These two games might provide the answer. Current two-game series:
Pirates Probable Starters (in order):
Brewers Probable Starters (in order):
- Randy Wolf (2010 vs. Pirates: 2 G, 2 GS, 14.0 IP, 1.29 ERA, 7 SO, 4 BB, 1 HR allowed)
- Chris Narveson (2010 vs. Pirates: 2 G, 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 6.00 ERA, 6 SO, 2 BB, 2 HR allowed)
Here's how the team numbers look for the 2010 season:
| PIRATES | BREWERS | |
| .233 | BA | .272 |
| .305 | OBP | .351 |
| .355 | SLG | .454 |
| 30 | HR | 48 |
| 25 | SB | 24 |
| 9 | CS | 5 |
The pitching numbers:
| PIRATES | BREWERS | |
| .284 | OPP. BA | .287 |
| .836 | OPP. OPS | .835 |
| 5.68 | ERA | 5.28 |
| 44 | HR | 51 |
| 258 | SO | 302 |
| 154 | BB | 159 |
The Brewers have been awful in the last week, and the Pirates have been awful for the last two decades. Which fan base has better reason to be morose this season? The answer (sort of) lies in the tale of the tape, after the jump.
CURRENT RECORD:Brewers: 15-24
Pirates: 17-22
Disadvantage: Brewers, but just by a hair, so I'll call it a push.
CURRENT PYTHAGOREAN RECORD:
Brewers: 18-21
Pirates: 10-29
Disadvantage: Pirates.
LONGEST LOSING STREAK:
Brewers: Eight games (current).
Pirates: Seven games
Disadvantage: Close enough. Call it a push.
LAST DATE TEAM HAD .500 RECORD:
Brewers: April 23
Pirates: April 21
Disadvantage: Pirates, by a nose.
TIMES SHUTOUT:
Brewers: 4
Pirates: 5
Disadvantage: Another near-tie. Push.
SCRAP HEAP PICKUP WHO CAME OUT OF NOWHERE IN 2009:
Brewers: Casey McGehee
Pirates: Garrett Jones
Disadvantage: Pirates. Jones has been good, but McGehee has arguably been the Brewers best player in 2010.
WHIPPING BOY:
Brewers: Trevor Hoffman.
Pirates: Dave Kerwin. Hell, I don't know. Is there anybody on the Pirates who's grossly underperforming? Daniel McCutchen? Charlie Morton?
Disadvantage: Brewers.
POTENTIAL DEADLINE TRADING CHIT:
Brewers: Prince Fielder
Pirates: Zach Duke. Or Paul Maholm. I don't know, I'm not convinced that these two aren't the same person.
Disadvantage: Brewers.
MOST SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS FACING THE TEAM:
Brewers: High pitch counts, inconsistent offense, a bloodcurdling bullpen, and, on occasion, the manager.
Pirates: Apathetic ownership, apathetic fan base, years of mismanagement of the farm system, inconsistent offense, spotty starting pitching.
Disadvantage: Pirates.
IS THERE ANY HOPE GOING FORWARD THIS SEASON?
Brewers: Maybe. If the starting pitchers go a few more innings, and if the 'pen progresses to the mean, and if Trevor Hoffman is put out to stud, and if Macha is let go and that somehow lights a fire under the troops, and if McGehee keeps it up and Fielder and Braun get hot at the same time ... we might scratch out around 75 or 80 wins.
Pirates: No.
Disadvantage: Pirates.
The final tally, then: five disadvantages for the Pirates, two for the Brewers, and three ties. The lesson: things are bad, but they're not Pirate-level bad. At least not yet.