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Pirates Vs. Brewers: Red-Hot James McDonald Takes The Mound For Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Pirates (26-26) and staff ace James McDonald, just four games out of first place in the NL Central, aim for a series win Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee against a Brewers club that has won five of their last six games.

McDonald (4-2, 2.20 ERA) was superb in the month of May, ranking second in the major leagues with a 1.54 ERA and 0.89 WHIP. He also struck out 39 batters in 35 innings pitched. Even more impressively, McDonald has surrendered three runs or fewer in all ten of his starts this season.

The Brewers will be sending youngster Michael Fiers (1-0, 1.29) to the mound on Sunday, just his second career start. Fiers pitched seven strong innings in his major league debut, allowing just a run and five hits in a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.

Overall, the Pirates have lost 37 of their past 41 games in Wisconsin.

For more on the Pittsburgh Pirates, check out Bucs Dugout, SB Nation's Pirates blog. For more on the Brewers, there's Brew Crew Ball. For news and updates from the Pirates series against Milwaukee, stay tuned to this StoryStream from SB Nation Pittsburgh.

Photographs by dizfunk used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.