Pirates-Brewers - Series Recap

The Brewers sweep the three-game series against the Pirates. The Crew now lead the season series against Pittsburgh, 9-4. The Brewers went 8-1 against the Pirates at Miller Park in 2007.

Friday - Brewers win 3-2: Seven solid innings on the mound, seven strikeouts and the game-winning RBI. That's all in a night's work for Brewers starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo. The Brewers took the lead in the first inning when Corey Hart hit a sac fly that scored Gabe Gross who reached on a double. Hart then made it 2-0 Brewers with a double in the third inning that scored Gross with two outs. Prince Fielder was intentionally walked by Pirates starter Tony Armas Jr. to get to Hart. Adam LaRoche cut the Brewers lead in half with a long home run off Gallardo in the fourth inning. The Brewers answered right back in the bottom half of the inning with a homer by Gallardo that sailed over the Brewers bullpen in left field.

Gallardo got himself into a big jam in the seventh inning. Ronny Paulino doubled home LaRoche to the cut the Brewers lead to 3-2. That left Paulino on second and Jason Bay on third base with one out. The Brewers decided to walk Jack Wilson and pitch to pinch hitter Josh Phelps with the bases loaded. Gallardo then struck out Phelps and Nate McLouth to end the threat. Derrick Turnbow pitched the eighth and Francisco Cordero the ninth to finish out the win for the Brewers.

Saturday - Brewers win 12-3: The Brewers fell behind 1-0 in this game in the top of the first inning. Two more runs would have scored if Bill Hall would have not made a diving catch in right center field that ended the inning. If Hall would not have made the catch, the game might have turned out differently. But he did make the catch and the Brewers scored eight runs total in the second and third innings. After a shaky first inning, Dave Bush settled down and threw six solid innings. Bush struck out five, gave up four hits and walked three to pick up his 11th win of the year.

Prince Fielder went 3-3 with two runs in the game for the Brewers. Kevin Mench had a huge night going 3-3 with four runs and three RBI. Mench also had a solo homer. Johnny Estrada went 3-4 with two RBI and one run scored. Bill Hall got off the snide a little bit by going 2-3 with four RBI. Corey Hart hit a long two-run homer as well. It was an overall solid game for the Crew. Mitch Stetter made his major league debut in the ninth. He seemed very nervous at first as he loaded the bases by hitting two batters and walking one. But, then after a visit from Brewers pitching coach Mike Maddux, Stetter got two groundballs and three outs to end the game by giving up just one run.

Sunday - Brewers win 7-4: This game was back and forth much of the afternoon. The Pirates struck first with a run off Jeff Suppan in the first inning. The Brewers tied the game in the bottom of the first on a Ryan Braun RBI single that scored Rickie Weeks who singled and stole second base. Then in the top of the second inning, the Pirates took the lead with back to back doubles by Paulino and Cesar Izturis to start the inning. The Brewers tied things up in the bottom of the third inning when J.J. Hardy scored on a Mench groundout. Braun homered to the opposite field off Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny to give the Brewers a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning. Gorzelanny only lasted four innings and gave up four, three earned. The southpaw threw 105 pitches in those four innings.

The Pirates tied the game against Suppan in the fifth inning when Jose Bautista singled home McLouth and Nyjer Morgan. Suppan threw five innings and gave up four runs, two earned. He picked up his first win since June 22nd because the Brewers took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when Hall singled home Mench. The Brewers added to their lead in the sixth inning when Fielder hit his 40th homer of the year that also scored Braun. Brian Shouse, Scott Linebrink, Turnbow and Cordero each pitched a scoreless inning to finish the game off for the Brewers.