Milwaukee Brewers 2½ games back in Wild Card race

The Milwaukee Brewers will try to gain some more ground in the National League Wild Card race Wednesday night when they play at Pittsburgh.

The Brewers are still two and a half games behind St. Louis for the final playoff spot. The Crew is now one game ahead of Pittsburgh in the Wild Card standings, after the Brewers shut out the Pirates 6-0 Tuesday night.

Milwaukee has won 21 of its last 27 games, and right-hander Marco Estrada will try to keep things rolling Wednesday. Estrada is 3-6 with a 3.77 ERA. He picked up a victory over Atlanta last Tuesday, giving up four hits and striking out six in six and two-thirds scoreless innings. In his last five starts, Estrada is 3-and-1 with 38 strikeouts in 29 and two-thirds innings.

The Pirates, meanwhile, are giving rookie right-hander Kyle McPherson his first Major League start. He replaces James McDonald, who was pulled from the rotation after going 2-5 in his last starts, with an ERA of 10.5 in his last three outings.

McPherson does not have a record. He has made seven relief appearances, none of more than two innings. His overall ERA is 1.54. Pittsburgh has managed to stay in playoff contention despite losing 13 of its last 17 contests.

Packers prepare for Seattle

The Green Bay Packer players are off Wednesday, a day later than normal. That’s because the Pack doesn’t play until Monday night, when they take on the Seahawks in Seattle.

The Packers practiced Tuesday and they reviewed film from both their Week 1 loss to San Francisco and their Week 2 win over Chicago to see what they have to improve upon.

Coach Mike McCarthy said his offense is making progress and it’s not far from where he wants it to be. He says it’s too early to make major evaluations with just two games under the team’s belt.

McCarthy says those kinds of reviews don’t come until after Weeks 4 or 5 – when they can really identify themselves in each of their major units.

The Green Bay running game expects to get a boost when James Starks returns from a lingering turf-toe injury. However, he might not able to play against the Seahawks.

The Packers do expect to get receiver Greg Jennings back after he missed last Thursday’s win over Chicago with a groin injury suffered against the 49ers. Both Jennings and Starks practiced Tuesday. Practice resumes Thursday.

Bucks working out

The Milwaukee Bucks training camp does not start for 13 days, but players are already getting together to work out and try to get into a rhythm on the floor.

Forward Ersan Ilyasova was among those toning up at the Bucks training facility in St. Francis Tuesday, along with second-year pro Tobias Harris and this summer’s draft picks John Henson and Doron Lamb.

Ilyasova said other veterans would show up in the next week and they’ll be ready for the rigors of camp.

Ilyasova emerged as a leader in the Bucks’ front court last season. He signed a four-year, $32 million contract to stay with the team.

After last year’s lockout, Ilyasova said he could see the importance of doing as much as possible to get ready for the season.

Last year, teams scrambled through a two-week training camp when the lockout ended so they could begin their season right after Christmas.

Besides the draft picks, the Bucks have other newly acquired players who need to get into the mix – including centers Samuel Dalembert and Joel Przybilla.