Pittsburgh @ Milwaukee preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 13, 2012 ) Pittsburgh 7, Milwaukee 10

The Milwaukee Brewers won the National League Central title in 2011 by posting the best home record in baseball. It's been a different story this year for the Brewers, who moved two games over .500 at Miller Park with Friday's dramatic 10-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Cody Ransom's tiebreaking grand slam in the eighth inning. Despite its 41-45 record, Milwaukee is sitting only seven games behind division co-leaders Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

The Pirates have followed Milwaukee's script from a year ago - leading the majors with a 29-14 home record - but Friday's loss kicked off a stretch in which they will play 16 of 22 games on the road. Pittsburgh has lost only three times in its last 13 games. The All-Star break didn't cool off center fielder Andrew McCutchen, who homered and had three more hits to push his average to a major league-leading .367.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), FS Wisconsin

PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Kevin Correia (5-6, 4.34 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Marco Estrada (0-3, 4.06)

Correia is 3-0 in his last four starts but has not gone past six innings in any of them - an issue he has had all season. He has made it through seven innings in only two of his 16 starts this season, and none in the last 10. Correia beat Houston last time out, giving up three runs on six hits in six innings. He is 3-6 in 17 appearances (10 starts) against Milwaukee.

Estrada is still in search of his first win in his injury-interrupted season. He missed more than a month with a quadriceps strain and has made three appearances since returning from the disabled list. He came on in relief last Sunday at Houston and tossed three hitless innings. Estrada has enjoyed success against Pittsburgh with a 2-0 record and 1.00 ERA in five appearances (two starts).

WALK-OFFS

1. Brewers LF Ryan Braun went 4-for-4 with two homers, boosting his NL-leading total to 26.

2. McCutchen is batting .571 (24-for-42) with five homers and 13 RBIs in his last 10 games. He has seven multi-hit games in that span.

3. Ransom's grand slam was the first of his career and the fourth by the Brewers this year.