After dropping the first pair of games against the Milwaukee Brewers this week, the Pittsburgh Pirates took the field this afternoon looking to avoid a series sweep against their divisional foes. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, their offense struggled once again and the Brewers got a few key hits as they beat the Bucs by a 4-2 score.
Mitch Keller started for Pittsburgh and had his best performance of the season thus far, giving up one run on four hits with seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings. Unfortunately, his mound opponent, Brandon Woodruff, gave up just one hit and two walks while striking out nine batters in six innings.
A solo homerun by Rowdy Tellez in the bottom of the second inning, his third of the season, put the Brewers in front by a 1-0 score. From there, the pitching dominated the game for both sides…until the seventh inning. A huge three run homerun by Keston Hiura in the bottom of the seventh inning put the Brewers up 4-0 and it appeared as though they would coast to victory.
Pittsburgh made it interesting in the eighth inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, Ke’Bryan Hayes singled home a pair of runs to cut Milwaukee’s lead in the half at 4-2. But with the tying run on first, Yoshi Tsutsugo struck out to end the threat.
This was a tough series for the Pirates from start to finish. After taking three of four games last week, they seemed to have lost all momentum by getting swept in Milwaukee this week. They will need to turn the page quickly as they kick off a four game series against the Chicago Cubs beginning tomorrow night at Wrigley Field.
Record vs. Brewers: 0-3
Record vs. N.L. Central: 2-6
Record on the Road: 1-5
Overall Record: 5-7
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
