Pirates

Pirates Preview: Bucs, Brewers Settle Series With Great Pitching Matchup

Published

2 weeks ago

June 25, 2025

Danny Demilio

Photo provided by Matt Lynch

The Pittsburgh Pirates were thumped 9-3 by the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on Tuesday night.

Nick Gonzales stayed hot with a home run, but Andrew Heaney struggled for the second-straight start and served up three home runs.

The Pirates (32-49) will go for a series win over the Brewers (44-36) on Wednesday afternoon in what’s shaping up to be an excellent mound battle.

First pitch is set for 2:10 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast on SportsNet Pittsburgh, MLB Network, 100.1 FM and AM 1020

Weather

American Family Field has a retractable roof, so weather won’t be an issue this series.

RHP Paul Skenes (4-6, 1.85 ERA) Will Start For the Pirates

Skenes held the Tigers to two runs and matched a season-high with nine strikeouts in the Pirates’ extra-innings win in the second game of a doubleheader on Thursday.

Despite posting a stellar 1.01 ERA in four starts in June, the Pirates’ ace is looking for his first win since throwing 6.2-shutout innings in Arizona on May 28.

Skenes leads baseball in ERA and in batting average against (1.75). He’s second in WHIP (0.88), tied for fourth in innings (102) and is 10th with 106 strikeouts.

His dominance against the Brewers continued when he held them to one run in 6.0 innings at PNC Park on May 23. In his career against Milwaukee, Skenes is 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA with 19 strikeouts across 13.0 innings.

RHP Jacob Misiorowski (2-0, 1.64 ERA) Will Start For the Brewers

Misiorowski carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his second career start on Friday against the Twins before allowing a two-run home run — the first hit he’s allowed in his career.

The 23-year-old threw 5.0 no-hit innings against the Cardinals on June 12 in his MLB debut. Misiorowski became the first pitcher in the expansion era to start his career without allowing a hit through his first 11.0 innings.

In 13 appearances/12 starts with Triple-A Nashville this season, Misiorowski went 4-2 with a 2.13 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 63.1 innings.

This will be his first time going against the Pirates.

Brewers Hitters vs. Skenes

Christian Yelich: 2 for 6, two strikeouts
William Contreras: 0 for 6, three strikeouts
Sal Frelick: 0 for 6, two strikeouts
Brice Turang: 0 for 6, three strikeouts
Andruw Monasterio: 0 for 4, one strikeout
Jake Bauers: 0 for 3, two strikeouts

Pirates Hitters vs. Misiorowski

Tidbits

Bryan Reynolds is 7 for 13 with three doubles and four runs over his last three games. He had one hit in 27 at-bats leading up to his current hot stretch.
In following his 5-for-5 game on Monday with a three-run home run on Tuesday, Nick Gonzales is one of only four Pirates since at least 1900 to have a game with at least five hits, followed by a game with either a three-run home run or a grand slam.
Tuesday’s start marked the first time Andrew Heaney allowed three home runs in a game since Aug. 24, 2023 against the Minnesota Twins as a member of the Texas Rangers.