Brewers' Logan Henderson strives to stay hot vs. Pirates

The Milwaukee Brewers will look to bounce back behind Logan Henderson when they host the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday.

Henderson (5-1, 2.66 ERA) will be opposed by fellow right-hander Jared Jones (2-2, 3.81).

Pittsburgh improved to 6-1 this season against the National League Central-leading Brewers with a 4-3 victory in the series opener Monday night. Spencer Horwitz drove in three runs with a double, Bubba Chandler pitched effectively into the sixth inning and the Pirates bullpen locked down the final 3 1/3 innings.

Brewers starter Brandon Sproat was pulled after back-to-back wild pitches in the fourth inning, facing just 16 batters. Sproat allowed four runs on five hits with two walks and three wild pitches.

The Pirates, who are 3 1/2 games out of the second wild-card spot, have won four straight games against Milwaukee for the first time since winning five in a row in 2022.

"That was a great win," Pirates manager Don Kelly said. "Any time you come here to Milwaukee, it's going to be a tough game regardless of the score early. You know that they always find a way to fight back."

Henderson is 5-0 with a 2.25 ERA over his last five starts. In four starts since coming off the injured list on July 9, he is 3-0 with a 2.57 ERA, allowing just 13 hits in 21 innings with 24 strikeouts.

Henderson picked up the win his last time out on July 28, allowing two hits over 5 2/3 scoreless innings in an 8-2 victory at San Francisco.

"Logan did this last year," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. "He made good starts for us last year and then got injured, but he's so capable. He's making a name for himself. Quietly shows up, and he's been super consistent every outing."

Opponents are hitting .195 against Henderson, who has walked just nine batters in 44 innings.

Henderson has one career start against Pittsburgh, allowing one run over five innings in a no-decision last season.

Joey Ortiz continued his hot hitting for Milwaukee with three hits in the opener. Ortiz, hitting .194 on June 7, is batting .343 with three homers and 10 RBIs in his last 22 games to raise his average to .241.

Jones, who spent the first two months of the season on the injured list, was 1-1 with a 2.00 ERA in five starts in July. He allowed six runs in 27 innings, with three coming in his last outing -- a 3-0 loss vs. Arizona in a six-inning start last Wednesday.

"The month of July, he's getting back to that. Today was in attack mode, throwing strikes," Kelly said after Jones' last start. "Fastball was good, slider was good."

Jones won his only career start vs. Milwaukee in 2024, allowing one run in six innings in a 4-2 victory.

Outfielder Jake Mangum had an RBI bunt single to account for Pittsburgh's fourth run in the opener and has reached base safely in 11 straight games, batting .306 over that span.

--Field Level Media