The Brewers took advantage of Edinson Volquez’s lone bad inning and pulled away against the Pirates bullpen for a 9-3 victory on Saturday afternoon.
The Brewers (37-26) struck first in the first when Jean Segura reached on a Jordy Mercer fielding error and moved to third on two Ike Davis errors. Jonathan Lucroy the knocked him with a sac fly to center field.
The Pirates struck back to take the lead in the third after Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen hit one-out singles. Following a Davis groundout and a Russell Martin walk, Pedro Alvarez hit a bloop two-RBI single to give the Bucs a 2-1 lead.
That lead would be short-lived as the Brewers scored three times off of Volquez in the fourth. Lucroy singled and moved to second on a Aramis Ramirez hit by pitch. Kris Davis then hit a RBI double. Clint Hurdle then decided to load the bases on an intentional walk to Scooter Gennett with one out. The plan backfired though, as Lyle Overbay hit a two-RBI single to give the Brewers the lead back.
“In the fourth inning,” said manager Clint Hurdle. “The breaking ball that had been effective for [Volquez] early,he spun three breaking balls that hung over the plate. His delivery was a little bit quick out of the stretch at times which maybe could have been a reason for the breaking ball hanging in certain situations.”
The Pirates tried once more to come back putting runners on first and third with no out in the sixth.Mercer then hit into a double play scoring Alvarez to make it 4-3. It was the final run the Pirates scored on the day as they hit into two more double plays over the next two innings cancelling out any chance of a comeback.
The Brewers made sure there would be no Bucco comeback scoring four unexpected runs off of Justin Wilson in the eighth. They added another unearned run off of Jeanmar Gomez in the ninth to finish off the scoring.
The Pirates totaled five errors in the game accounting for two Brewers runs.
“We pride ourselves on being focused and ready for every pitch and we have one hitter and have three errors [today]. Sometimes you leave the ball too early. You think you got it, you take your eyes off of it and you don’t. I think Ike tried to make a play that wasn’t there after the ball got away from him. We pride ourselves on defense, we take it to heart. That part of our game should continue to be one of the more consistent parts, but it was not today.”
Final Score: Brewers 9, Pirates 3.
Starters Lines
Volquez (L, 3-5): 6 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 IBB, 4 K’s, 1 WP, 1 HBP. 100 pitches, (65 strikes).
Garza (W, 4-4): 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 1 K. 96 Pitches (57 Strikes).
These two teams will be back at it tomorrow afternoon in the rubber match of this three-game series.
Tomorrow’s Starters
(PIT) TBD
(RHP) Yovani Gallardo (MIL): 3-4, 4.08 ERA
First pitch is set for 1:35.
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(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
