Today's Matchup: Brewers (Burgos) v Pirates (Gomez)

Today the Brewers and Pirates battle for second place in the NL Central, with a chance to climb into first with a Cardinals loss. The proceedings, unfortunately, will not be televised.

Unless you're at the ballpark today you're going to miss Hiram Burgos (3.27/4.29 ERA/FIP) making his third major league start. Burgos pitched a quality start against the Dodgers on Friday, allowing three runs on four hits over six innings with two walks and three strikeouts. He was lifted after 89 pitches in a game the Brewers went on to lose 7-5.

Writing about pitcher hitting has become the routine this week, but Burgos hasn't given us much to talk about. He's 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts and a sac bunt in his major league debut season, so if he puts a non-bunt in play today it'll be the first time. Minor league pitchers don't hit until they reach AA (and even then they only do it in games featuring two NL affiliates), so Burgos doesn't have much experience at the plate. He was 2-for-27 between 2012 and 2013 with a pair of singles and 13 strikeouts.

Burgos has, of course, never faced the Pirates before.

He'll face 25-year-old Venezuelan righty Jeanmar Gomez (2.63/4.70 ERA/FIP in 2013, 5.96/5.47 in 2012), who is making his first start as a Pirate. He's working today in place of Jonathan Sanchez, who was designated for assignment earlier this week. Gomez pitched 4.1 innings in relief on Friday, allowing three runs on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Gomez has made 38 starts over the last three seasons as a member of the Indians, so he's not new to the role. He only averages about 5.1 innings per start, though, and has a 5.32 ERA in that capacity. He'll throw a 90 mph fastball with a steady mix of sliders, and has used a changeup as his third pitch in the past but hasn't thrown it often in 2013.

Gomez has never faced the Brewers in the majors. The only Brewer who has seen him before is Yuniesky Betancourt, who is 2-for-6 against him with a home run and a walk.

As of this writing I haven't seen today's lineups. If you have, please drop them in the comments.

And in the bullpen:

• Brandon Kintzler pitched .2 innings (19 pitches) last night, and also pitched on Monday.
• John Axford pitched one inning (22 pitches) last night.
• Tom Gorzelanny pitched one inning (14 pitches) last night.
• Jim Henderson pitched one inning (13 pitches) last night.
• Burke Badenhop pitched .1 innings (eight pitches) last night.
• Alfredo Figaro pitched one inning (17 pitches) on Monday.
• Michael Gonzalez last pitched on Sunday.

It's another beautiful day in Milwaukee today. Expect a gametime temperature around 78 and the Miller Park roof to be open.