Milwaukee @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 19, 2015 ) Milwaukee 2, Pittsburgh 5

The Pittsburgh Pirates are returning home following a 10-game road trip and are hoping the magic they left behind is still hanging around PNC Park. The Pirates will be searching for their seventh straight home victory when they host the Milwaukee Brewers in the opener of a three-game series on Monday.

Pittsburgh swept the New York Mets and Miami Marlins to finish off its last homestand before heading out onto the road, where it posted a 7-3 mark at San Diego, San Francisco and Atlanta. That pushed the Pirates to 13-3 over the last 16 games and kept the team within shouting distance of St. Louis atop the National League Central. The Brewers are nowhere near shouting distance of first place in the Central but bring some momentum into the series after taking two of three at AL Central-leading Minnesota over the weekend. Milwaukee dropped Sunday’s finale but is still 4-3 over its last seven games.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), ROOT (Pittsburgh)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers RH Jimmy Nelson (2-6, 4.41 ERA) vs. Pirates RH A.J. Burnett (6-1, 2.20)

Nelson was knocked around for a season-high seven runs (six earned) in five innings to suffer a loss at St. Louis on Wednesday. The Alabama product surrendered five of those runs in the first inning before settling in and has recorded one win in his last 10 starts. Nelson made his first two starts of the season against Pittsburgh, picking up a home win on April 11 with seven scoreless innings before absorbing a loss on the road six days later.

Burnett earned the win in each of his last six starts but needed the offense to bail him out in the last two. The veteran failed to make it through the sixth inning in either of his last two starts and was tagged for four earned runs and eight hits in each. Burnett is seeing Milwaukee for the first time since 2013 and is 2-6 with a 4.65 ERA against the Brewers in his career.

WALK-OFFS

1. Pirates RF Gregory Polanco (knee) was limited to pinch hitting on Sunday and is day-to-day.

2. Milwaukee RHP Taylor Jungmann will be recalled on Monday to make his major-league debut on Tuesday.

3. Pittsburgh CF Andrew McCutchen went 0-for-5 on Sunday to snap an 11-game on-base streak.

PREDICTION: Pirates 5, Brewers 2