MILWAUKEE – JT Brubaker hit eight in six impressive innings, and the Pittsburgh Pirates extended their recent upswing by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 6-1 on Friday night.
Colin Moran and Gregory Polanco faced the Pirates, who won five out of seven after six games. Adam Frazier added a triple with two runs.
Brubaker (2-0) scored one run and four hits, lowering his ERA to 1.76 in three starts this season. The right-handed man didn’t walk with anyone despite hitting three batters.
“I feel like I attacked them, used my fastball when I had to, and then threw off pitches.” Said Brubaker. “The curveball worked for me today. The slider really worked today, both sides of the platter, and that was just something we had planned for the game to be able to use this slider on either side of the platter. “
Adrian Houser (1-2) allowed three runs in 4 1/3 innings, ending Milwaukee’s franchise record of eight games in which his starting pitchers worked at least five innings and allowed no more than one run. The brewers’ starters recorded an ERA of 0.59 during this stretch.
“I didn’t work any more tonight” Houser said. “It’s up to me. This is something I need to get back on the hill and fix it in my next bullpen. It definitely changes the game. If I don’t start any further, we won’t be able to work on the pitches that we want. It definitely gets you in trouble if you’re way behind 2-0. “
Moran put the Pirates in the lead in the second game by sending Houser a 2-1 pitch over the left field wall for his third homer.
Pittsburgh had runners in first and second places in fifth when Houser was drawn. Frazier greeted reliever Brent Suter with a triple on the right field line that brought home Kevin Newman and Dustin Fowler.
Frazier scored the 4-0 in Bryan Reynolds’ 2-0 double.
Milwaukee’s only run came at the end of the fifth when Jace Peterson hit a one-off single and scored Tyrone Taylor’s double.
The Brewers had multiple chances to take the lead in two situations with RBI boss Travis Shaw but he failed to deliver.
Shaw swung with a 3-2 pitch and the bases in the third. Milwaukee had two in the fifth when his line drive went straight into the pirates’ infield layer and Newman allowed Newman to catch him. Shaw had the bases full again in seventh, but flew out in first place by Reliever Sam Howard.
“I had three options” Shaw said. “Just for some reason I couldn’t redeem any of these tonight. A couple of big spots with charged bases. Overall, a couple of decent swings just nothing to show. “
Four pirate helpers together allowed only one hit in three innings, despite taking four walks. Pittsburgh’s bullpen has only allowed one run over his last 17 2/3 innings.
“I think it’s attacking the zone” Pirate manager Derek Shelton said. “We have to come out and attack the zone and get other teams to beat us. That’s the key. “
Polanco broke the game in eighth with a two run homer ahead of Devin Williams, who this season has allowed four deserved runs in 3 2/3 innings. Williams gave up just one well-deserved 27 innings run last season to earn NL Rookie of the Year.
TRAINING ROOM
Pirates: RHP Michael Feliz (0-0, 3.18 ERA) went on the 10-day list of injured with a broken nail on his right middle finger. RHP Sean Poppen has been added to the active roster.
Brewers: OF Christian Yelich missed his fourth game in a row with a sore back.
NEXT
The teams will continue their three-game series on Saturday. Scheduled starting mugs are right-handed Trevor Cahill (0-1, 8.00) for Pittsburgh and left-handed Brett Anderson (1-1, 4.50) for Milwaukee.
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