The Pirates opened up a seven game home stand against the Milwaukee Brewers. No team has more success against the Pirates than the Brewers, and they continued their dominance over the Pirates on Monday night.
A.J. Burnett got the nod for the Pirates and had an average start. He pitched seven innings, struck out six, and allowed four runs (three earned). He didn’t get much help from his defense, as the Pirates finished the game with three errors. Above all that, Michael McKenry had an awful game behind the plate. The Fort allowed six steals and didn’t really come close to throwing out any base runners.
The catching situation is in trouble now that Russell Martin is hurt, and McKenry is giving Pirate fans a flashback of last season, when Rod Barajas and McKenry were both horrid behind the plate when it came to throwing out base runners.
On the hitting side, there wasn’t much going for the Bucs. Clint Barmes, who has been hitting the ball pretty well as of late, picked up two hits, which upped his average to .232. Travis Snider and Gaby Sanchez each had doubles, and Pedro Alvarez drove in the only run of the game for the Pirates on a ground out.
Norichika Aoki brought a lot to the plate for the Brew Crew, finishing the game with three hits, two stolen bases, and three runs batted in. Jean Segura upped his batting average to a tremendous .368 with three more hits of his own.
Up next for the Pirates: Jeff Locke (3-1, 2.95 ERA) will face off with Kyle Lohse (1-4, 3.53 ERA). First pitch for game two of the four game series is Tuesday night, at 7:05 P.M.
