Pittsburgh Pirates bats go silent in series finale vs Brewers

The Pittsburgh Pirates bats went silent in a 2-1 loss against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, leading to the team dropping their weekend series.

Milwaukee, WI – The rubber game of a three game set between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers concluded this afternoon with Milwaukee taking a 2-1 win and the series.

For the second straight game the Pirates got on the board in the top of the first as center fielder Starling Marte got aboard with a base knock and scored off a Melky Cabrera double to give pitcher Steven Brault a 1-0 lead before toeing the mound.

Brault didn’t necessarily cruise through the first three innings, but never found himself in much trouble. The bottom of the fourth the Brewers tied the game up when Mike Moustakas drove a double to deep center and scores on an RBI single to right from the pitcher Zach Davies. Davies advanced to 2nd on the play via a throwing error from catcher Elias Diaz. Brault shut down the 2-out offense by getting shortstop Orlando Arica to groundout to end the inning and keep the score tied at one a piece.

Both offenses were stymied for much of the afternoon. The Brewers left 10 runners on base through the first eight innings which included a bases loaded opportunity in the 6th. Pirates reliever Richard Rodriguez came in to relieve Brault and worked out of the jam.

The Brewers turned to their bullpen in the sixth inning and got a clean two and two thirds innings from Freddy Peralta and Jeremy Jeffress. The two combined did not allow a baserunner, which set things up for the acting closer Matt Albers in the ninth. The usual ninth inning man Josh Hader had today off after pitching last night.

The Pirates now fall to 39-43 on the season and 5.0 games back of the division leading Chicago Cubs.

Tonight’s line:

(MIL) Zach Davies 5.1 IP 6 H 1 ER 2 K 2 BB

(PIT) Steven Brault 4.2 IP 5 H 1 ER 5 K 3 BB

WP: Davies (8-2) LP: Crick (3-4) SV: Albers (1)

Tomorrow’s Probables:

(CHC) Adbert Alzolay: 1-0 2.08 ERA

(PIT) Trevor Williams: 2-2 4.25 ERA

First pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET