Pirates 8, Brewers 1: After a pitching gem Sunday, Milwaukee gets roughed up by Pittsburgh

In one day, the Milwaukee Brewers went from the pitching gem of their season to this.

Starter Matt Garza struggled through 5 1/3 innings and Wily Peralta continued to show no aptitude to pitch out of the bullpen as the Pittsburgh Pirates pulled away to an 8-1 victory Monday night at Miller Park.

The pitching woes were only part of the story. The Brewers managed little damage against right-hander Gerrit Cole, who entered the game with uncharacteristic numbers: 4-6 record and 4.54 ERA.

Cole pitched more like the ace he has been in the past, allowing only three hits and one run over seven innings. The lopsided loss followed Jimmy Nelson's complete-game masterpiece Sunday in a 2-1 thriller over San Diego.

BOX SCORE: Pirates 8, Brewers 1

RELATED:Peralta's struggles deepen as reliever

NOTES:Jonathan Villar almost ready for rehab assignment

MLB: Live scoreboard, box scores, standings, schedules

Garza (3-3, 4.42) retired the first six hitters he faced but struggled afterward. Pittsburgh built a 4-1 lead against him, then iced the game with four runs in the seventh off Peralta. In nine relief outings since being removed from the rotation, Peralta has allowed 19 hits and 16 runs in 13 2/3 innings (10.53 ERA).

Overall, Peralta has a 7.21 ERA for the season, leaving the Brewers to decide how much longer this will be tolerated.

It has been home run or bust for the Brewers for more than four games and that trend continued. Travis Shaw led off the second inning by sending a 1-1 changeup the other way and over the fence in left for his 13th homer of the season.

That 1-0 lead disappeared when the Pirates scored twice in the third off Garza and threatened to do much more damage. Adam Frazier sent home the two runs with a single through the left side, Jordy Mercer just beating Hernán Perez’s throw home with the second tally.

The Pirates proceeded to load the bases against Garza, who then fell behind in the count, 3-0, to Josh Bell before getting him to ground out with the count full.

It stayed 2-1 until the sixth, when Andrew McCutchen lined a two-run homer over the fence in right and into the picnic area. That spelled the end for Garza and set up another shelling for Peralta in the seventh.

He retired only one of the seven batters he faced that inning as the Pirates doubled their score with four more runs. Josh Harrison doubled in a run, Gregory Polanco singled in another and an error by Perez in left allowed another to score, and McCutchen’s RBI single made it 8-1.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

• The Brewers entered the game having scored their last 15 runs via homers, a franchise record that increased to 16 with Shaw’s shot in the second. Six players contributed to that barrage, so manager Craig Counsell had no complaints.

“In putting this offense together, it’s one thing we thought we could get – power through the lineup,” he said. “If you feel like you can score that way, it’s a quick way to score. I prefer some more men on base when we’re going to do it.

“It’s a common way for us to score. It’s not a bad thing. We’ve got to kind of take advantage of what we’re good at. We’re in a stretch right now when the offense is coming from home runs. We’re cool with that.”

• Reliever Jhan Mariñez, who was waived by the Brewers and claimed by the Pirates on May 19, took over for Cole in the eighth inning.

STAT SHEET

• Nelson’s complete game on Sunday snapped a 305-game drought without one for the Brewers, the fourth-longest stretch in MLB history. The Brewers also have the second longest at 407 games from 2011-’13. Miami has the record with 480 games from 2014-’17.

• The Brewers announced the signings of three draft picks: Utah RHP Jayson Rose (8th round), Utah 3B Dallas Carroll (9th) and Oklahoma City University RHP Roberto Delgado (28th). But word of other signings came out, including fifth-rounder Nick Egnatuk, a prep third baseman from New Jersey.

TAKEAWAY

The Brewers weren’t going to win this game with only one run in seven innings off Cole. But they can’t seem to find any spot in which Peralta can be successful. Considering the stuff he displays at times, there is no more frustrating player on the team.

RECORD

This year: 38-34 (19-21 home; 19-13 away)

Last year: 32-40

ATTENDANCE

Monday: 25,489

2017 total: 1,140,381 (28,510 avg.)

Last year: 1,120,280 (28,007 avg.)

NEXT GAME

Tuesday: Brewers vs. Pirates, 6:40 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Zach Davies (7-3, 4.91) vs. Pittsburgh RHP Chad Kuhl (1-6, 5.61) TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.