Milwaukee 10, Pittsburgh 0
When: 1:35 PM ET, Sunday, September 4, 2016
Where: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Temperature:
81°
Umpires:
Home -
Clint Fagan, 1B -
Mark Carlson, 2B -
Brian Gorman, 3B -
Quinn Wolcott
Attendance:
25318
By The Sports Xchange
PITTSBURGH -- Pick a name from the Milwaukee lineup, or even the bench, and there's a fair chance that guy helped the Brewers sweep the Pittsburgh Pirates this weekend.
"That's what happens when you go on the road and win three games -- you've got a bunch of guys playing well, a bunch of guys contributing," Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said Sunday after Jonathan Villar hit his first career grand slam, Domingo Santana hit two homers and Chris Carter added a three-run shot in 10-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
Four Brewers pitchers combined for the shutout, the Brewers' second in the three-game sweep.
Villar's homer came as a pinch hitter in the sixth. He did not start for the second game in a row because of a sore left knee from a play late in Friday's game.
Milwaukee tied a season high with its fourth win in a row following a six-game losing streak that including being swept by Pittsburgh a weekend earlier at Miller Park.
"Everybody gets a little bit of confidence," Santana said of paying back Pittsburgh by answering with the sweep this weekend. "You've got to give the pitching staff a lot of credit. They pitched great. We hit the ball pretty well but the pitchers set the tempo in this series."
Pittsburgh, which has been shut out in three of its past five games, has lost six games in a row for the first time this season and sits 3 1/2 games behind St. Louis for the second National League wild-card spot. The Cardinals visit PNC Park for three games starting Monday.
"There's room for improvement all over the place on offense," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.
"It's rough. You come in and you find yourself in this position. It's done with now. Not the result we wanted, but we got three good starts. It just goes to show you what the game is about -- it's a complete game. It's getting offense. It's getting pitching. It's getting defense. We weren't able to complete the equation. It's a humbling game as well."
Milwaukee starter Chase Anderson (8-11) pitched five innings, allowing five hits and striking out two while walking none. Milwaukee used seven pitchers Friday in a 1-0 win over Pittsburgh. The relievers Sunday were Tyler Cravy, Jacob Barnes and Ben Rowen.
Steven Brault (0-2), making his fourth major league start and his home debut with the Pirates, allowed one run on four hits through five innings, but he got his pitch count up to 84. That came after he threw 92 pitches in just four innings Monday, allowing three runs in loss to the Cubs.
The teams traded unassisted double plays in the first.
Keon Broxton led off the game for Milwaukee with a double. Orlando Arcia followed with a liner that second baseman Josh Harrison snagged and then dove to beat Broxton back to second.
Harrison then singled to lead off the bottom of the first, but first baseman Chris Carter snagged John Jaso's ensuing liner and stepped on first to double off Harrison.
There was no chance of doubling off Domingo Santana in the second. He homered to center to give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead.
Counsell was ejected in the second inning for arguing an obstruction call on Jaso, the Pirates first baseman, after he and Brewers baserunner Hernan Perez collided. The ruling wiped out a run.
"In the end, I didn't agree with the call," Counsell said. "I didn't think there was obstruction there."
Jaso, though, had no quarrel with the outcome, even it was confusing.
"I was just going after the ball," he said. "I've never seen a play like that happen before. That's why baseball is kind of an interesting game. I think in the end they, I guess, got it right."
In the sixth, the Brewers loaded the bases on Chris Carter's double, Santana's single and, two outs later, a walk to Jake Elmore. Villar followed with a homer to left to clear the bases and give Milwaukee a 5-0 lead.
"I hit the ball and starting running to first base," Villar said. "I didn't think I hit it hard enough for it to go out. I was surprised but it was a good surprise."
The Brewers added five unearned runs in the ninth on Perez's bases-loaded fielder's choice to make it 6-0 and then back-to-back homers by Carter, his 32nd, and Santana to push it to 10-0. It was Santana's first career multi-homer game.
"We're such a young team and it's important that we can bounce back from losing (six) in a row," Anderson said. "We just want to keep growing together and come back next year and have a better season It's really important and that's what we're trying to do in this last month."
NOTES: With INF Jonathan Villar dealing with a sore knee, Milwaukee recalled INF Yadiel Rivera from Triple-A Colorado Springs. ... Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said RHP Neftali Feliz, who left Saturday's game with right arm discomfort, was "feeling better," but did not offer much more in the form of an update. ... 3B Jung Ho Kang, who has been on a rehab assignment because of a left shoulder injury, is tentatively scheduled to rejoin the Pirates on Monday. ... Pittsburgh RHP Gerrit Cole, who is on the DL because of right elbow inflammation, is scheduled for another bullpen session Tuesday. He is on track to start Sept. 12 at Philadelphia. ... Pirates 1B John Jaso started for the first time in eight days. The team had been going with rookie Josh Bell. ... Pittsburgh also gave 3B David Freese, SS Jordy Mercer and C Francisco Cervelli a day off from the starting lineup. Adam Frazier started at third, Sean Rodriguez at short and Chris Stewart -- in his first game back from a left knee injury -- at catcher. ... SS Orlando Arcia, who had a big game Saturday with a double, a triple and an RBI as well as strong plays defensively, moved from seventh to second in the Brewers' lineup. ... Milwaukee gave C Martin Maldonado, LF Ryan Braun and RF Kirk Nieuwenhuis a day off from the starting lineup. Manny Pina started at catcher, Jake Elmore in left and Domingo Santana in right.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Milwaukee
|
11 |
4 |
26 |
.297 |
20 |
6 |
10 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
Pittsburgh
|
6 |
0 |
9 |
.194 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |