Mike Fiers

Brewers, Pirates open second half both looking to stay hot

Published Jul. 17, 2015 1:30 p.m. ET

Dave Heller

Two of the hottest teams in Major League Baseball are set to square off in Miller Park.

The Pittsburgh Pirates, who are making move up the ladder in the National League Central Division, and the Milwaukee Brewers are playing as well as anyone over the last three weeks.

BEST RECORD SINCE JUNE 23
Team	Record	Winning pct.
Pirates	14-5	.737
Angels	12-5	.706
Brewers	13-6	.684
White Sox	11-6	.647
Nationals	11-6	.647

The teams, though, have been winning in different ways.

Since June 23, Pittsburgh has won nine games by 2 or fewer runs, more than any other club (the White Sox have eight and Boston, New York Mets and Colorado seven).

Meanwhile, Milwaukee has been slugging its way to victories. The Brewers have posted eight wins by three or more runs in that same time span (the Angels are next with seven while seven teams have done it six times).

With two hot teams playing each other, could history be a factor in who takes the series?

BEST WIN PCT. AT HOME VS. DIVISION OPPONENT SINCE 2006
Team	Opponent	Record	Winning pct.
Brewers	Pirates	59-19	.756
Yankees	Blue Jays	59-27	.686
Blue Jays	Orioles	61-28	.685
Brewers	Astros	39-18	.684
Cardinals	Reds	51-25	.671

Other notes:

-- Getting Jean Segura untracked certainly would help Milwaukee. Don't tell the Pirates, but if they throw him offspeed pitches that might help. Seguar has the fourth-highest batting average in the NL vs. offspeed pitches at .308.

-- Speaking of offspeed pitches, Friday's starter Mike Fiers has a swing and miss rate of 42.5 percent on his curveball, which is the fifth-best percentage in the majors.

-- Milwaukee better hope it gets to Charlie Morton (Friday) and Francisco Liriano (Saturday) early. Morton has the best opponent OPS on the third time through a lineup in the majors, a paltry .402. Liriano is fourth at .502.

Statistics courtesy STATS Inc.

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