The Milwaukee Brewers opened the second half of the season with four consecutive wins but have won only one of their last five. Odds are they'll struggle tonight again when facing a San Francisco Giants team that has won all but one of its nine games since the All Star break.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Pitching - The Brew Crew will hand the ball to Kyle Lohse (5-11, 6.29 ERA) who was lit up for five runs on 10 hits with two homers in five innings of a 7-5 home loss to Cleveland his last start. The right-handed veteran owns baseball's highest ERA this season and is 3-4 with a 5.08 ERA in eight career starts against San Francisco. The Giants will counter with Chris Heston (10-5, 3.18 ERA) who's coming off a pair of wins allowing only a total of one run on eight hits over 14 frames. He's been solid home at AT&T Park all season compiling a 2.54 ERA over 10 starts and he has a 2.23 ERA in 12 night starts for the year.

2. Situational - The Giants have won six straight home in San Francisco and they're 7-0 in their last seven games as a home favorite. The Brewers meanwhile are 2-9 in Lohse's last 11 starts as a road underdog.

3. X-Factor - Buster Posey is batting a major league-best .452 since June 25 and was a perfect 4-for-4 yesterday.

Selection: This is a play on the San Francisco Giants (8*)