Field Level Media
Sep 15, 2018
The Milwaukee Brewers couldn't muster much offense beyond Christian Yelich's 30th homer Saturday, falling 3-1 to the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates and losing ground in the National League Central.
The Brewers (85-64), who had their two-game winning streak halted, fell 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the division. Milwaukee holds a 3 1/2-game lead over Colorado for the top NL wild-card spot.
Colin Moran and Francisco Cervelli each had an RBI double for the Pirates (73-74), who have won two of three.
Pittsburgh starter Ivan Nova (9-9) made his 200th major league appearance. Yelich's homer was the only run and one of four hits he allowed in six innings, with four strikeouts and a walk.
Felipe Vazquez pitched the ninth for his 33rd save.
Brewers starter Zach Davies (2-6) went five innings, giving up two runs and three hits, with three strikeouts and one walk.
Yelich's homer to left-center in the first gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead.
In the second, Pittsburgh's Corey Dickerson drew a one-out walk. With two outs, Moran doubled to left and Dickerson raced home from first for a 1-1 tie.
The Pirates took the lead in the fourth. Josh Bell led off with an infield single and, like Dickerson earlier, raced home on a double, this one by Cervelli to make it 2-1.
In the sixth, Brewers reliever Dan Jennings got one out and yielded to Jacob Barnes. The first batter Barnes faced, Starling Marte, doubled to left. Bell walked.
With Cervelli at the plate, Marte and Bell executed a double steal. Catcher Erik Kratz's throw went into center for an error, allowing Marte to score for a 3-1 lead.
Cervelli was called out on strikes and objected. He and Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle were ejected.
In the seventh against Pittsburgh reliever Richard Rodriguez, Jesus Aguilar led off with a double and went to third on a wild pitch, but Rodriguez got two strikeouts sandwiched around a foul popup.
--Field Level Media