The Milwaukee Brewers narrowly beat the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday to take the series.
The Milwaukee Brewers took another step toward a 100-win season on Wednesday with a narrow 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
The victory also gave the series to the Brewers, which marks the third consecutive set they have won. Before they play for a sweep on Thursday, let’s identify how they beat the Pirates on Wednesday.
Getting on the board first
Milwaukee did not waste much time getting runs across home plate, and by the second inning, it was enjoying a 2-0 lead.
At first, it seemed like the Brewers might have gone down in order after William Contreras flew out and Christian Yelich struck out to open the inning. However, there is a reason why this team has the best record in baseball, and part of it is because of its ability to produce runs under unfavorable circumstances.
With two outs bearing down, Joey Ortiz hit a single to left field to get things going. Then, rookie Luis Lara hit a single of his own that advanced Ortiz to second.
With two men on, Andrew Vaughn did not waste the opportunity, and he drove Ortiz in with an RBI single to left field. The Brewers’ other promising rookie, Cooper Pratt, took the liberty of driving in Lara with an RBI single of his own to center field.
Milwaukee took a 2-0 lead off four consecutive singles, which illustrates how a small-ball approach has worked in its favor this season.
A four-inning battle
After a scoreless third for both clubs, they began trading blows.
In the bottom of the fourth, Oneil Cruz hit a leadoff solo home run to get the Pirates on the board. Brewers right-hander Logan Henderson got through the inning after it, but Pittsburgh was not done giving him trouble.
After Milwaukee responded with a run of its own in the top of the fifth thanks to an RBI double by Brice Turang, the Pirates came back with two more runs when Henderson gave up a double and a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning.
At that point, the game was tied, and it did not take long for the Brewers to find themselves trailing when reliever JoJo Romero gave up a solo home run to Rafael Flores Jr. in the bottom of the sixth. Milwaukee needed to respond, and it did almost immediately.
In the top of the seventh, the Brewers once again used small-ball tactics in their favor as Yelich capitalized on a walk by Turang, a single by Jackson Chourio and a walk by Jake Bauers when he hit a two-RBI single to give Milwaukee the lead back.
With a 5-4 advantage, the Brewers’ bullpen kept the Pirates from striking again in the eighth and ninth inning. Trevor Megill struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth, and he earned his 28th save of the season.
