Brewers have their hands full with surging Pirates

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(TSX / STATS) -- MILWAUKEE -- When the Pittsburgh Pirates arrived at Miller Park Monday afternoon, manager Clint Hurdle thought his team was in good position to claw away at the Milwaukee Brewers' lead in the National League Central.

Two games into the series, Hurdle's prediction has held up; Pittsburgh has won the first two games of the four-game set and will sit just four games back of the front-runners when right-hander Trevor Williams takes on Brewers right-hander Junior Guerra on Wednesday.

The Pirates have had their way with the Brewers so far thanks to complete efforts in all aspects of the game. Their starting pitching has been solid and the defense has been strong, all while the offense has managed to put 15 runs on the board.

"We've been working hard to play it all year," Hurdle said Tuesday, after a 7-3 victory. "We've had some short stretches of it but now we want to get on a little longer stretch.

"I think if you run back the tape from earlier in the season, we swept a few series. It's just been, basically, a combination of things. Hitting, you piece it together. Starting pitching, you piece it together. Personnel changes. We're working hard to get a little bit better every day."

Williams (3-3, 5.16 ERA) will be making his ninth start of the season while facing the Brewers for just the second time in his career. His previous appearance against the Brewers came last season when he gave up two hits and one run in 2 2/3 innings.

While the Pirates are surging, Milwaukee has hit a bump in the road. The Brewers' lead over the second-place Cubs dipped to just a half-game after their second consecutive loss, which was marred but an underproducing offensive group for the second consecutive night.

Milwaukee has managed just five runs so far in the series and went 2-for-13 while stranding 11 runners on Tuesday night. Eric Thames had a particularly rough night, striking out four times leaving seven men stranded.

After homering in four consecutive games, Thames is 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts and a walk.

"They're making pitches (to him)," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "They threw some sliders down and he chased. Last at-bat, they threw fastballs up and he chased some of those.

"He's just had a rough couple of nights."

Guerra (1-1, 2.84 ERA) has been holding batters to a .191 average this season but has taken a no-decision in two of his last three starts despite only allowing seven earned runs during that stretch and just 10 total in his six starts this season.

He is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in four career appearances against the Pirates -- including three starts, all of which came last season.

Guerra will have his work cut out for him with Andrew McCutchen, who batted .333 against Guerra last season and comes into the game with five home runs in his last seven games and has a .406 average (26-for-64) in the month of June with three doubles, a triple, six home runs and 19 RBIs.

"He's doing a lot of good things at the plate," Hurdle said.

A victory Wednesday would clinch the Pirates' third consecutive series victory at Miller Park.