Series Preview: Brewers (20-24) vs Pirates (21-23)

The Matchups

Manny Parra (1-2, 5.03) vs Paul Maholm (2-4, 4.94)
Ben Sheets (4-1, 3.25) vs Ian Snell (2-2, 5.05)
Jeff Suppan (2-3, 4.78) vs Tom Gorzelanny (3-4, 6.64)

Who's Hot

Milwaukee: Ryan Braun
Braun is till trapping all day and playing all night. In the Month of May he's batting .319 with 17 RBIs and a whopping 10 dingers. The team record for home runs in a month is 13, set by the Prince a year ago. At his current pace, Young Jeezy will snatch that record by the end of the weekend.


Pittsburgh: Nate McClouth
McClouth entered the spring in a battle with Chris Duffy for the centerfield job. McClouth won the job when Duffy went down to an injury, and hasn't looked back. He leads the team in hits, doubles, triples, total bases, home runs, steals, slugging percentage and is tied with Xavier Nady for the team lead in RBIs.

Who's Not

Milwaukee: Bill Hall
The more we see Bill Hall play, the more it looks like he put up a big year when no one knew how to pitch him. Once the book was out on him he's struggled. To be blunt, he looks like a super-utility player. A guy who can play virtually anywhere on the diamond and gives guys a day off three to four times a week, but he's not an everyday player. Prove me wrong Bill...He's batting just .138 in May with two solo homers. Those are his only two RBIs on the month. Oh, and have I mentioned he's on pace to commit more errors than Braun did a year ago? Braynan, calling Russell Branyan...

Pittsburgh: Brian Bixler
He's batting just .129 this month with 1 RBI. The Pirates have used a combination of Bixler, Luis Rivas and Chris Gomez to fill in for the injured Jack Wilson, and none of them have really produced yet.




Prediction

Although this team really does historically struggle at PNC Park, I'm thinking they'll take the series. Ned-man-walking is definitely feeling the heat, so the Brewers will screw us all - and themselves in the process - by taking the series and saving his job. Parra and Sheets pick up wins...as does Suppan. The Brewers sweep, and for once I won't be happy with it.

Brewers sweep