MILWAUKEE -- Chase Anderson's first season in Milwaukee hasn't always been smooth sailing, but he's certainly finishing on a high note.

Anderson struck out six while allowing one run, four hits and a walk over 5 2/3 innings as the Milwaukee Brewers avoided a sweep with a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night at Miller Park.

Anderson (9-11) held his opponents to three earned runs over his last four starts and allowed more than two earned runs once over his last 11 turns.

"He's pitched well this little run he's on," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "Tonight his curveball was the big pitch for him. Especially early in the game I thought he used his curveball very effectively -- got strikeouts with it, got early strikes with it. It's a third pitch that the hitter has to respect.'

He put two on with one out in the first but got out of it unscathed thanks to Milwaukee's first of two double plays.

Jung Ho Kang led off the second with a walk but Anderson retired the next 11 batters in order before Francisco Cervelli put the Pirates on the board with a two-out, solo home run in the fifth.

"(We had) minimal opportunities tonight,'' Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "We hit some balls hard, much like they did last night. We hit some balls hard and they were in front of them. Anderson has been on a good little run. We've been able to win a couple of games, but he's been pitching probably as good as he has in his career."

Anderson retired pinch-hitter Jordy Mercer to end the inning then got two quick outs in the sixth before Andrew McCutchen doubled to bring his day to an end.

"I would say that (my curveball) tonight that it was the best it has been this year," Anderson said. "I don't know if that's a bold statement but I just felt like it was. I struck out a couple guys out on it. I had a better feel for it. It just kind of came as the game went on so I'm thankful (catcher Martin Maldonado) kept calling it.

"I think it's huge when you can throw three pitches for strikes. It keeps the hitters guessing."

Anderson benefitted from an early cushion. Scooter Gennett gave Anderson and the Brewers the lead in the first inning with a two-run homer -- his 14th home run of the season -- off Pirates right-hander Ryan Vogelsong (3-6).

"I thought I threw a pretty good curve ball there," Vogelsong said. "He stayed behind it and hit it the other way. Thinking he's going to try hooking something in the hole on me over there. But he stayed behind that one. I didn't think it was a totally bad pitch. When I'm mechanically right, I'm able to do what I want to do with the ball."

Those were the only runs allowed by Vogelsong, who struck out seven over four innings.

"I thought he went out there, was able to dig in and come up with something pretty good," Hurdle said.

Milwaukee got an insurance run in the seventh on Chris Carter's 37th home run of the season and right-hander Tyler Thornburg worked a scoreless ninth for his 12th save of the season.

NOTES: LF Ryan Braun returned to the Brewers' starting lineup Thursday after missing Milwaukee's previous two games to be with his wife for the birth of the couple's second child. ... OF Starling Marte returned to the Pirates' starting lineup after missing the previous 15 games because of back spasms, but left midway through his second at-bat when the back flared up again. ... INF Jordy Mercer was a late scratch from Pittsburgh's starting lineup with tightness in his right forearm but he was able to pinch-hit later in the game. ... Hernan Perez made his first start of the season in CF Thursday. Perez started at six positions for Milwaukee in 2016, and appeared at each position except pitcher and catcher. ... Brewers OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, battling a sports hernia, received a cortisone injection Thursday but isn't sure whether he will return this season. ... Pittsburgh acquired veteran RHP Phil Coke from the Yankees on Thursday in exchange for cash considerations. Coke worked six innings for the Yankees this season but spent most of the year with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where went 5-3 with a 2.96 ERA in 20 appearances, including 11 starts. Manager Clint Hurdle said Coke would provide multiple-inning depth in the Pirates' bullpen.