Milwaukee Brewers defeat Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-6 – MLB Recap
Jonathan Lucroy went deep and drove in three, as Milwaukee Brewers held on for a 9-6 victory against Pittsburgh Pirates to complete a three-game series sweep, at Miller Park, Milwaukee, on Sunday, May 15.
Ryan Braun had a home run and four RBI, while Zack Greinke (2-1) gave up five runs on six hits and a walk in five innings. He also struck out five in Milwaukee's sixth win in eight games.
Kevin Correia (5-4) surrendered six runs on eight hits and two walks in Pittsburgh’s fifth straight loss.
Braun and Casey McGehee got the Brewers off to a good start, as Braun hit a three-run home run in the first inning and McGehee followed two batters later with a solo shot to straightaway centre-field, to provide Milwaukee an early four-run edge, 4-0.
The Brewers went further ahead by a 5-0 advantage in the second inning, when Carlos Gomez worked a two-out walk and was followed by a Braun triple. Lucroy then continued the Brewers’ onslaught with an RBI double in the third inning.
Neil Walker hit a homer to lead off the fifth inning, capping an impressive 12-pitch at-bat, for Pittsburgh’s first hit. Then with two outs, the Pirates added four more runs in the inning with two outs on five straight hits.
Chris Snyder doubled and then scored on a double by Ronny Cedeno, who crossed the plate on a Steve Pearce’s pinch-hit double. Pearce then came home on Andrew McCutchen's triple and Jose Tabata singled, to set the score at 6-5.
Brewers’ manager, Ron Roenicke while speaking about Greinke's struggles in the fifth inning said, “The at-bat with Walker wore him (Greinke) out. It's amazing how one at-bat can set up everything else you do.”
Milwaukee then responded with a two-run homer by Lucroy, making it 8-5 in the bottom half of the inning.
The Brewers then notched another run to push the lead to 9-5 in the seventh inning, when McGehee rounded the bases without the benefit of a hit. He then took advantage of a throwing error by third baseman, Pedro Alvarez and reached the base. He then rushed
to third on a fly-out by Corey Hart and scored on a wild pitch by reliever, Daniel McCutchen.
Lucroy said, “It was one of those days. But we brought the winning run to the plate after being down by four-runs in the ninth inning, so that's a good push.”
The Pirates knotted it to fight back in the ninth with a run on three consecutive singles by Alvarez, Brandon Wood and Cedeno off Milwaukee closer, John Axford. McCutchen walked with one out and Tabata was the potential go-ahead run, but they failed to get
the big hit they needed and grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
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