The best record in baseball spends Sunday morning at PNC Park, and the man waiting for it is the most electric arm in the National League. The Milwaukee Brewers visit Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates in a Peacock exclusive, the second baseball event the streamer carries in a single day.
Brewers at Pirates: How to Watch
- First pitch: 12:15 p.m. ET, PNC Park, Pittsburgh
- Stream: Peacock (exclusive)
- Probables: LHP Robert Gasser (2-3, 4.15) vs. RHP Paul Skenes (7-8, 3.58)
- Records: Milwaukee 59-36, Pittsburgh 49-47
- Radio: Brewers on WTMJ 620; Pirates on 93.7 KDKA The Fan
Peacock has both of Sunday’s marquee baseball windows: the Futures Game at noon and this one 15 minutes later. If you are building an All-Star Sunday around one login, this is it.
Two Teams, Two Very Different Round Numbers
Milwaukee arrives at 59-36 with the best record in baseball and win No. 60 in sight before the break. The Brewers have been the class of the National League Central all season and enter Sunday needing one more to hit a milestone that would have sounded absurd in April. Pittsburgh, at 49-47, is chasing a rounder and quieter number: a return to .500, and the sense that this core is finally worth watching in July.
Because the standings freeze during the break — no positioning changes until games resume July 17 — Sunday is the last chance for either club to move its number before the pause.
The Reason to Watch: Paul Skenes
Skenes’ 7-8 record is the least interesting thing about him. Behind it is a 3.58 ERA and 123 strikeouts, the win-loss line a product of a Pittsburgh offense that has too often left him with nothing. He remains appointment viewing every fifth day, the rare pitcher whose starts are events regardless of the standings. Milwaukee counters with left-hander Robert Gasser, back in the rotation and looking to give the Brewers’ league-best group another steady turn.
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes warms up with a football before a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio (11) against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Milwaukee Brewers’ Robert Gasser, right, throws out Cincinnati Reds’ Matt McLain, left, at first base during the second inning of a baseball game Monday, June 29, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
One name to monitor for Milwaukee down the stretch is rookie flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski, who recently missed a start due to fatigue. It is the kind of workload note that tends to matter more in a season’s second half than its first.
What’s at Stake
Nothing in the standings changes over the break, but momentum is real, and a first-half sendoff against the sport’s best team is exactly the sort of stage a young Pittsburgh club can use. For Milwaukee, it is a chance to walk into the All-Star break at 60 wins with the National League’s loudest statement already made.
Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio (11) against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
The best team in baseball against the best show in baseball, on a Sunday with no soccer to split the screen. Start there.
