Milwaukee Brewers had their issues at PNC Park in the past few years. Last year, Pittsburgh swept Milwaukee in an embarrassing five-game sweep to end the All-Star Break at PNC Park. This is a weird park where weird shit happens to Milwaukee. As the teams kicked off their first of 19 games of the year, Brewers started things off on the right foot with a strong victory. Milwaukee won 11-5 to win their third game in their last four where they didn’t let Pittsburgh get back up. Mike Moustakas and Yasmani Grandal led the way along with a few others as the Crew had 18 hits total.

Player of the Game: Mike Moustakas – Have we had the conversation about how Mike Moustakas could be an All-Star this season? Dude is having a great year. He smoked two home runs tonight along with four RBIs which included a clutch RBI single in the seventh inning. For the year, Moustakas has 15 homers and is hitting .269 (nice) with an OBP of .332. Moose has six homers in the month of May hitting .248 for a decent May this season.

Honorable Mention: Yasmani Grandal – Good night for David Sterns’ 2019 offseason pickups. Yasmani Grandal went off for four hits including a home run. He was a triple away from the cycle. This is the second straight game with Grandal hitting a home run, and he continues to be a force for Milwaukee this season. He is hitting .282 with an OBP of .382. Other than J.T. Realmuto, there is not a catcher having a better season in the National League.

The Thing I Liked: Brewers’ clutch gene continues to show up – There is some narrative about the Brewers not being clutch. Yes, there are some numbers to support it, but are we starting to see things balance themselves out? Every time Pittsburgh added a run, Brewers came back with a few of their own. They never really backed down tonight including a big eighth inning knock from Lorenzo Cain to drive in three runs to keep Josh Hader fresh for tomorrow.

The Thing I Didn’t Like: Corbin Burnes struggles again – Brewers put Corbin Burnes in a non-pressure situation on Thursday night and he stunk up the joint. He did not do it with giving up home runs either. Burnes scuffled with some of the nobodies of Pittsburgh’s lineup. After going five straight appearances without allowing a run, he allowed runs in three of his last five appearances including tonight. Triple-A is coming for him sooner rather than later.

The Highlight of the Night: Lo Cain delivers the big base knock of the evening.

Lo Cain clears the deck against the Pirates! #VoteBrewers #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/hUemdPxO9D

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 31, 2019

Next up: Brewers and Pirates do this thing again on Friday night with Jhoulys Chacin taking the ball for the Crew vs Chris Archer. Chacin is in need of a good start as he struggled for most of this season. He did pitch well in Pittsburgh last year, so, hopefully, the big ballpark can help him get going. Pirates send Chris Archer to the hill. Archer is struggling in his own right. The last time he allowed less than three runs in a start was April 13th. He did not pitch well versus Milwaukee last season.

Charlie.