Pirates 3, Brewers 2: Bullpen fails again as Milwaukee loses fourth consecutive game

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

PITTSBURGH - The road remains unkind to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Closer Corey Knebel surrendered a run in the ninth inning and Jared Hughes gave up the winner in the 10th as the Pittsburgh Pirates came from behind to beat the Brewers for the third time in the series, 3-2, on Wednesday night at PNC Park.

It was the fourth consecutive loss overall for Milwaukee, whose lead in the National League Central has shrunk to 1 1/2 games. The Chicago Cubs, meanwhile, are 6-0 since the second half began.

Domingo Santana scored both the Brewers' runs, with the second coming on a leadoff home run in the eighth inning to put Milwaukee ahead, 2-1. Starter Zach Davies, meanwhile, saw his personal four-game winning streak come to an end despite turning in a solid seven-inning outing.

"We’re in a good spot," manager Craig Counsell said. "To open the calendar on July 19 and say we’re in first place, we’re happy and we’re ready to go. The season is a test, it’s a grind.

"It’s long and it’s filled with adversity and we’re going through a little patch right now. But the guys have responded very well, and they’re playing, to me, in a way that’s going to win us a lot of ballgames."

Knebel took over for the ninth and got a terrific leaping catch at the wall from Keon Broxton to rob John Jaso of extra bases to start.

Things went off the rails quickly from there. Knebel walked David Freese and then gave up consecutive singles to Gregory Polanco and Francisco Cervelli, with Cervelli's blooper into short right tying it at 2-2.

BOX SCORE: Pirates 3, Brewers 2 (10 innings)

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Knebel recovered to record the final two outs but neither came via strikeout, ending his streak of consecutive appearances with at least one at 46.

"Curveball wasn't there, fastball wasn't where I wanted it," said Knebel, who's now 16 for 21 in save opportunities. "It was one of those days. Couldn't get it where I wanted."

Added Counsell: "Corey's gotten away with some walks because he's struck out so many guys. But he didn't get away with it tonight."

After Milwaukee went down in order in the 10th, Hughes (3-2) allowed a one-out, ground-rule double to former Pirates teammate Josh Harrison. Andrew McCutchen was then walked intentionally, and Harrison tagged and went to third on a flyout by Jaso.

That brought up rookie Max Moroff, who blooped a single into short center to end it.

"They were just kind of getting rewarded for putting the ball in play," said Counsell, whose team has lost four straight for the first time since it dropped five from May 21-26.

"You're looking for something to kind of fall your way, but sometimes it doesn't go like that and you've got to make your own breaks.

"We're playing tough games. These are tough games. This is hard-fought baseball."

Milwaukee wasted little time getting on the board against starter Gerrit Cole in the first.

Santana, batting leadoff for the second consecutive night, doubled to open, moved to third on a Cervelli throwing error and scored on a one-out single to center by Jesús Aguilar.

Pittsburgh jumped on Davies quickly in the bottom of the first as well.

Starling Marte led off with a single and quickly went to third on Orlando Arcia's wayward throw to second base after Harrison's roller into the hole. McCutchen's sacrifice fly to center then tied the game at 1-1.

The game evolved into an old-fashioned pitcher's duel from there.

Cole ultimately reached a season-high 10 strikeouts in the seventh before being pulled. Davies scattered eight hits – all singles – and allowed one earned run and one walk while striking out four over 89 pitches.

It was Davies' second seven-inning start of the season, and probably his second-best as well. He had entered the game the beneficiary of over seven runs of offense per game behind him, so to make one run hold up for the duration was something he hadn't done in a while.

"Just a mix of everything," Davies said in summing up his performance. "Being comfortable in every count, being able to throw every pitch in every count and work against the hitters in the sense of being off-balance and mixing everything."

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

• Aguilar has been taking ground balls at third base during batting practice for a good portion of the season, but he never expected he'd get a chance to display his fielding skills at the hot corner in a game.

"I was ready to hit," Aguilar said through translator Carlos Brizuela. "But not to play third."

But after Travis Shaw was ejected in the eighth inning of Tuesday's loss, Aguilar got the call. It marked the second time he'd played the position in the major leagues; the first was a two-inning stint in 2014 while he was with the Cleveland Indians.

As luck would have it, the 6-foot-3, 250-pounder didn't get a ground ball his way.

"The guys from the Pirates were chirping at me," Aguilar said. "But it was fun being out there."

Aguilar started at first base on Wednesday, with Eric Thames playing left field.

• First-round pick Keston Hiura was promoted to Class A Wisconsin from the Arizona League, where he hit .435 with three doubles, five triples, four home runs and 18 runs batted in while posting an OPS of 1.339 in 15 games.

"Keston did a nice job working with the medical staff," farm director Tom Flanagan said of Hiura's recovery from an elbow injury. "He has been doing the throwing program here and is progressing well.

"He will initially DH for the Timber Rattlers, but we are monitoring his progress, and we are hopeful that he will be able to play games defensively (at second base) toward the end of August."

STAT SHEET

• Shaw became the second Brewers player to homer into the Allegheny River at PNC Park on Tuesday, and the 29th player overall. Prince Fielder was the other Brewer to accomplish the feat, doing so on May 29, 2006.

RECORD

This year: 52-45 (28-24 home; 24-21 away)

Last year: 42-55

NEXT GAME

Thursday: Brewers at Pirates, 12:35 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Jimmy Nelson (8-4, 3.27) vs. Pittsburgh RHP Jameson Taillon (5-3, 3.06). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.