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For the first time since April 26, Ryan Braun is in the Brewers' lineup. This fact should delight Pirates fans, who have longstanding beef with Braun because holy cow does he absolutely murder Pittsburgh pitching. Just this year he is hitting .367/.406/.767 with three of his six home runs against the Pirates. Over his career, Braun has a 1.010 OPS against them. His 26 home runs against Pittsburgh are more than he has hit against any other opponent, barring the Astros, against whom he also has 26 homers.
Still, Braun may be a little rusty tonight. He's fresh off a DL stint for a strained oblique, an injury that has been known to linger. He also came back without a DL stint, meaning he has not faced live pitching in over two weeks. But it's Ryan brothertrucking Braun against the Pirates. He doesn't need any warmup for this.
Also notably in the lineup is Carlos Gomez, who had his appeal against a five game suspension on Friday. The fact that it is taking MLB this long to make a decision is probably a good sign; it hopefully means they are likely to reduce his punishment at least a game or two. Meanwhile, Gomez is facing Gerrit Cole. Cole was the pitcher who gave up the triple-that-should-have-been-an-inside-the-park-home-run that helped spark the fight that led to the suspension.
Mark Reynolds is at third with Aramis Ramirez on the DL, with Lyle Overbay at first. We suspected that would be the most likely starting option moving forward, and sadly that has come to fruition. Alas.
