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Brewers-Pirates Preview

May 20, 2010 - 5:19 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Milwaukee (15-24) at Pittsburgh (17-22), 7:05 p.m. EDT

Trevor Hoffman is getting a few days off to work with Milwaukee Brewers pitching coach Rick Peterson, but there's no guarantee baseball's all-time saves leader is going to get his job back when he's ready.

Right now, the Brewers don't look like they'll be needing a closer anytime soon.

Milwaukee tries to avoid losing its 10th straight Thursday night at PNC Park, where the Pittsburgh Pirates look for a fourth consecutive victory over the team that's tormented them for much of the past three seasons.

Hoffman's struggles have been a season-long issue, but only one of his five blown saves has come during this nine-game losing streak.

He failed to retire any of the five batters he faced Tuesday in Cincinnati, turning a 4-2 ninth-inning lead into a 5-4 loss. Milwaukee (15-25) announced Wednesday that he wouldn't pitch in this two-game series as Peterson tries to help him straighten out his delivery.

Manager Ken Macha hinted Carlos Villanueva would be first in line to replace Hoffman if the Brewers had a ninth-inning lead, but he didn't get a chance to follow through Wednesday. Macha allowed Randy Wolf to start the seventh inning with a 4-3 lead despite the left-hander having thrown 100 pitches, and Wolf gave up three runs leading to a 6-4 loss.

"I said it earlier, everybody's worried about the ninth inning; we've had problems in those other innings," Macha said.

The Brewers last lost 10 straight Aug. 25-Sept. 3, 2006.

The Pirates (18-22), meanwhile, are enjoying their newfound success against Milwaukee. Pittsburgh had lost 25 of 30 in the series prior to winning twice at Miller Park last month, and it scored five more runs Wednesday than it totaled in its last three-game home series against the Brewers.

"It's good to get them back," said third baseman Andy LaRoche, who's hitting .375 with three homers in his last 10 games against Milwaukee. "It seems like the last couple of years they've been on the upper end of most of the games against us and it's good to get one back against them."

Paul Maholm (3-3, 4.40 ERA) will try to extend the Brewers' misery, and he's coming off one of his best starts. The left-hander gave up two runs over six innings and didn't issue a walk for the first time in a 4-3 win at Chicago on Saturday.

Maholm is 1-3 with a 4.95 ERA in 10 starts against the Brewers since 2008. He gave up four runs, seven hits and walked five over seven innings in a 6-5, 14-inning win at Miller Park on April 28.

Thursday might be a good time for Macha to give Prince Fielder a day off despite the slugger's .345 average over his last 14 games. Fielder is 3 for 37 (.081) against Maholm.

Milwaukee's Chris Narveson (3-1, 5.29) gets the ball coming off his first loss. The left-hander allowed four runs and eight hits while striking out nine over 5 2-3 innings of a 10-6 defeat to Philadelphia on Saturday.

Narveson opposed Maholm on April 28, allowing three first-inning runs on homers by LaRoche and Andrew McCutchen before shutting the Pirates down through the fifth.