A year ago the Pittsburgh Pirates enjoyed a solid 88-win season and barely missed out on the playoffs. In their opening series, they didn’t exactly look like a team that was ready to get back to postseason play. The Pirates have more than enough time to shake off their slow start and make a serious playoff run, but they’ll first have to shed the stink of a rough sweep to start the year.
Pittsburgh wasn’t all bad in their 3-0 series loss to the Cincinnati Reds, while it’s fairly obvious the Reds are an equally balanced team that simply played three very good games. Despite the two teams matching up well, the Pirates couldn’t overcome Cincy’s defense in any of the meetings and now will head into their second series of the year looking for answers.
The answers Pittsburgh finds will come against the Brewers, as they head into Miller Park. Their NL Central foes also got swept to start the 2015 season and historically don’t play their best ball in their own park. The Pirates haven’t exactly had the mental edge over the Brew Crew lately, however, as the Brewers won 12 of 19 contests in 2014.
Regardless of which way this one goes, it’s arguable fans from both sides will be getting major value this weekend. According to TiqIQ.com, Pirates tickets come in at just $32 to kick this series off on Friday ($5 to get in the door), while Saturday sees only a mild spike ($38) and the finale is just $34 on Sunday. Despite these two teams hating each other and both wanting to avoid the bottom of the division to start the year, fans are getting a major discount to take it all in live. That discount can be put towards flights to Milwaukee through Hipmunk.com, so Pirates fans can take in the weekend action. Hipmunk has hotels in Milwaukee starting from $79 for those looking to enjoy the city after a game.
Only one of these NL Central squads will start 2015 0-4, and the Pirates don’t want to be that team. If what the Colorado Rockies did to the Brewers is any indication, they won’t be. Colorado is an extremely potent offensive team, but the 20 runs they dropped on Milwaukee is a comforting thought for a Pirates offense that has managed just eight runs so far this year. The team will expect Josh Harrison’s bat to stay constant after a solid start (batting .333), but his efforts may be lost if Andrew McCutchen (.222, one homer) can’t help out.
