MILWAUKEE -- Through the first 12 starts of his rookie season, Jameson Taillon has been a something of a stabilizing force for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

On Saturday, his teammates returned the favor.

Taillon lasted just three innings but the Pirates' bullpen combined for five shutout frames while Gregory Polanco broke a sixth-inning tie with a three-run double as the Pirates beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-6, at Miller Park.

"It was a tough night for 'Jamo' out of the blocks," said manager Clint Hurdle, whose team won a series in Milwaukee for the first time since 2013. "Everything seemed to be up. The curveball was come and go. It wasn't sharp. It wasn't a sharp outing for him. That's the beautiful thing about the big leagues; he's been pretty sharp since he's been here and has picked us up ... tonight, the guys were able to pick him up."

Starling Marte's first-inning double scored Josh Harrison and staked Taillon to a 1-0 lead but a three-run homer from Hernan Perez put Milwaukee up by two. Orlando Arcia made it 4-1 with an RBI single before Taillon struck out Nelson, stranding two runners.

"That's a good starting pitcher," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "He came in on a pretty good roll. That was probably one of our better first innings of the season."

Taillon retired the side in order in the second and Perez led off the third with his second homer of the night.

"We gave him a four-run lead and we put him in a good position there," Counsell said. "We were swinging the bats well and had momentum. That inning he was just unable to finish hitters. That was the big thing, I thought. He had some good favorable counts and just didn't finish them."

The lead, though, would be short-lived.

Nelson got Marte to ground out opening the fourth, but the next five Pittsburgh batters reached to make it 5-4 on Josh Harrison's RBI single.

Josh Bell's groundout allowed John Jaso to score, tying the score, and Andrew McCutchen put the Pirates ahead when he drove in Harrison with a base hit into right, bringing Nelson's day to an end after 3 2/3 innings.

"I had two walks in that inning," Nelson said. "There were a couple of pitches I made that just found holes; it was two hard hits. It was a mixed bag."

Tyler Cravy got out of the inning without further damage and then wiped out the deficit with one swing of the bat, leading off the bottom of the inning with a solo home run to left off Jeff Locke (9-7) -- the first hit and home run of Cravy's career.

"I was definitely surprised that I hit it that well," Cravy said. "I had definitely made up my mind that I was going to swing first pitch. It was pretty lucky that it was a fastball in that location, too."

The Pirates loaded the bases with one out in the sixth against Blaine Boyer and Polonco cashed in, breaking the tie with a double to right-center field.

"I was trying to put a good swing on the ball," said Polanco, who came off the bench for the first time since Aug 14.

Juan Nicasio and Neftali Feliz held the Brewers to just three baserunners the rest of the way to close it out and Feliz earned his second save of the season.

"They were special tonight," Hurdle said. "They were very, very strong."

NOTES: Pittsburgh LHP Gerrit Cole will miss his next start due to soreness in his left elbow. GM Neal Huntington announced after the game that Cole would seek a second opinion on the elbow sometime this week. Reports surfaced earlier Saturday that Cole would be examined in Los Angeles. ... LHP Steven Brault will take Cole's place in the rotation Monday when the Pirates open a series at Wrigley Field against the Cubs. ... Brewers RHP Junior Guerra threw 55 pitches in minor league rehab start Saturday for Triple-A Colorado Springs. Guerra worked 3 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed just a hit and two walks while striking out a pair. Barring setback, his next start will be for the Brewers. ... Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said giving SS/3B Jonathan Villar a day off on Saturday came as a result of the player making two errors on Friday. Villar had played in every game since Milwaukee's last scheduled off day on Aug. 15.