Coming into Wednesday night’s start against the Milwaukee Brewers, Jeff Locke had made two quality starts since June 17. After departing the start, Locke still had two quality starts since June 17 as the Pittsburgh Pirates lost 9-4 to the Brewers.
Locke pitched 3.2 innings, matching his shortest outing of the season, which previously came April 28 against the Chicago Cubs. Additionally, relievers Joe Blanton and Arquimedes Caminero saw their scoreless streaks come to an end.
Blanton allowed a fifth inning home run to Adam Lind. The 10-pitch at-bat ended with a 2-2 sinker which was hit over the center field wall. Blanton did record an out, meaning his scoreless streak ended after eight appearances and 16.2 innings of work.
Caminero allowed two runs on a Scooter Gennett seventh inning single. Caminero had two outs, so his streak ended at 18 innings. The last time he allowed a run was July 25 against the Washington Nationals.
Prior to Locke’s exit, Jonathan Lucroy singled in a run and Khris Davis added another, both in the first inning. Lind then added a third inning contribution with a single of his own.
Zach Davies, had a no-hitter going through the first three innings of his major league debut. The first batter he faced in the fourth inning, Starling Marte quickly ended this recording a double. For Marte, it was his first extra-base hit since Aug. 22 against the San Francisco Giants.
Later in the inning, Aramis Ramirez tied the game with a three-run home run, his 15th of the season, fourth with the Pirates and second consecutive time with a homer.
The Brewers then pulled ahead by two with another Lucroy two-RBI single, which knocked Locke out of the game. Locke recorded the first two outs of the game, however allowed Davies to single and a second Brewer to reach base before the single.
Though Ramirez added a ground-rule double half an inning later, that was as close as the Pirates would get for the rest of the game.
Rob Scahill made his first appearance since coming off the disabled list and immediately allowed the first two runners to reach base. Two batters later, Ryan Braun singled allowing for one run to score. Scahill could not complete the inning and manager Clint Hurdle brought in Bobby LaFromboise to get the final two outs.
Jeremy Jeffress [4-0] earned the win for the Brewers. The Pirates are now 21-31 against the National League Central.
Though the Pirates have lost the series, they will look to avoid a sweep Thursday when Francisco Liriano [9-6 3.28 ERA] takes on Taylor Jungmann [8-5 2.48 ERA]. Liriano is 6-5 with a 4.06 ERA in 14 career appearances [13 starts] against the Brewers.
Photo credit: Morry Gash/AP Photo
