Pirates @ Brewers

Who will WIN this matchup?

Pittsburgh Pirates (23-38)

@ Milwaukee Brewers (35-27)

Starting Pitchers:

De Jong (PIT): 0-0; 5.40 ERA

Woodruff (MIL) 4-2; 1.42 ERA

Current odds:

Pittsburgh Pirates: (+240)

Milwaukee Brewers: (-280)

• Having players out doesn’t seem to be a stumbling block for the Milwaukee Brewers, who have won 11 of their past 13 games going into a weekend home series against the Pittsburgh Pirates that opens Friday.

• The Brewers, who are coming off a 7-2 win Thursday at Cincinnati and are opening a six-game homestand, have moved into a tie with the Chicago Cubs atop the National League Central.

• That is despite having practically a game lineup’s worth of players on the IL: outfielder Lorenzo Cain (right hamstring), right-hander Dylan File (right elbow), outfielder Derek Fisher (left hamstring), infielder/outfielder Mark Mathias (right shoulder), left-hander Angel Perdomo (lower back), 3B/1B Travis Shaw (left shoulder), right-hander Justin Topa (right elbow) and second baseman Kolten Wong (left oblique). Shaw got hurt Wednesday diving for a ball.

• Pittsburgh had a feel-good series last weekend, winning three of four against a reeling Miami Marlins team. Then things got tougher, and the competition could continue to be a challenge. After being swept in a three-game series against the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at home, including a rain-shortened 6-3 game Thursday, the Pirates, last in the NL Central, head on the road having lost four in a row overall.

• They did get a bit of good news concerning first baseman Colin Moran, who left Wednesday’s game after getting hit with a pitch on the top of his right hand and sat out Thursday. Manager Derek Shelton said X-rays showed no break and that Moran is day to day. “It’s a pain tolerance thing,” he said.

• In the series opener, Pittsburgh right-hander Chase De Jong (0-0, 5.40 ERA) is slated to start opposite Milwaukee right-hander Brandon Woodruff (4-2, 1.42 ERA). The Brewers are 9-3 in games when Woodruff starts. His last outing, Saturday against Arizona, he didn’t get a decision, but Milwaukee won 7-5. He gave up two runs and six hits in five innings, with one walk and nine strikeouts — good numbers, but they left Woodruff wanting more. Woodruff has 87 strikeouts in 72 innings and a 1.13 ERA over his past 11 starts. Woodruff, who is facing Pittsburgh for the first time this season, is 3-2 with a 4.50 ERA in nine career games, seven of them starts, against the Pirates.

• De Jong, who has never faced the Brewers, will be making his third start of the season. His last time out, he did not get a decision when Pittsburgh came back for a 12-inning win Sunday against Miami after he gave up five runs and seven hits in five innings, with one walk and five strikeouts.