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Pirates-Brewers Preview

Apr 27, 2010 - 6:09 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Pittsburgh (7-11) at Milwaukee (8-10), 8:10 p.m. EDT

No matter how poorly the Milwaukee Brewers are playing, facing the Pittsburgh Pirates seems to bring out their very best.

Coming off another rout of their NL Central foes, the Brewers try for a 23rd straight home win over the struggling Pirates on Tuesday night.

After being outscored 25-4 and swept in a three-game weekend home series by the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee (9-10) bounced back with a 17-3 win over Pittsburgh on Monday.

The Brewers have outscored the Pirates 53-4 in four meetings this season, including 36-1 during a three-game sweep at Pittsburgh last week.

"I just got off a weekend where we were on the other end of that," Milwaukee manager Ken Macha said. "We respect every team we play. It's just how teams kind of match up against each other."

Pittsburgh (7-12) has lost seven in a row, both overall and against the Brewers. The Pirates haven't won at Miller Park since May 3, 2007. The Brewers' 22-game home winning streak against Pittsburgh is the longest by one team over another since the Indians beat the St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles 27 consecutive times from 1952-54.

"I can't explain it," Monday's losing pitcher Zach Duke said.

Milwaukee is batting .380 with 30 extra-base hits, including 10 home runs, against the Pirates in 2010.

"We played some really good baseball against Pittsburgh, and if we want to play meaningful baseball later on in the season, we have got to continue doing what we're doing against Pittsburgh," said Milwaukee catcher Gregg Zaun - usually a light hitter - who had four hits and five RBIs on Monday.

Casey McGehee added a grand slam for his fifth homer of the season, and Prince Fielder had three hits.

McGehee has eight RBIs in four games this season against Pittsburgh, which has totaled 12 runs during its a seven-game overall skid.

"At some point it's got to turn around," said Pirates manager John Russell, whose team hasn't had a winning season since 1992, and held a 30-minute, closed-door meeting after Monday's loss. "It's a young team, and they need to decide when they want to do that. It's not just Milwaukee - everyone's kicking us right now."

Andy LaRoche has been a recent bright spot, collecting two hits Monday and going 8 for 13 in his last three games. He's 2 for 13 against scheduled Milwaukee starter Randy Wolf (2-1, 3.70 ERA), but both hits were homers.

Wolf was the beneficiary of his team's offensive onslaught in a 20-0 win at Pittsburgh on Thursday, when he allowed six hits in six innings. The left-hander is 8-1 with a 3.15 ERA in 13 career starts versus the Pirates.

After Daniel McCutchen was optioned to the minors over the weekend, Jeff Karstens will likely be called up from Triple-A Indianapolis to start for the Pirates on Tuesday.

Karstens, who has allowed 13 runs in 16 innings over five minor-league appearances this season, went 3-4 with a 5.16 ERA in 13 starts for Pittsburgh in 2009.

The right-hander is 0-1 with a 3.80 ERA in five career appearances - three starts - versus the Brewers.