The Brewers secured a 5-2 win against the Pirates in the series opener despite a slow start. With Quinn Priester finding his rhythm, the Brewers eventually capitalized on a few key Pirates mistakes to take the win. For Priester, it marked his 11th straight win, the best run in Milwaukee’s history.
Milwaukee found an early lead when Brice Turang led off the game with a single and Isaac Collins followed with a walk. With two instant baserunners, William Contreras reached on an error from third
baseman Jared Triolo as Turang crossed the plate.
With an early lead in hand, it was up to Priester to stifle a Pirates lineup fresh off a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He ran into trouble early, allowing a double and a walk in the first. He escaped when Andrew Vaughn made a leaping catch at first base to end the inning.
The Brewers had another chance to potentially build a rally in the second inning when Caleb Durbin was hit by a pitch, but Joey Ortiz hit into an unfortunate double play. On a chopped grounder up the middle, the ball was precisely in range for the defender to field the ball while standing on second base, leading to an easy double play conversion.
The game proceeded on these slim margins in the bottom half of the inning. Priester gave up a ground rule double to Nick Gonzales and an RBI single to Oneil Cruz to start the frame. He was able to limit the Pirates to one run with a strikeout and a pair of groundouts.
Priester struggled to be efficient early, throwing nearly as many balls as strikes, and the Pirates took an aggressive approach in the third inning to take advantage. A leadoff single from Spencer Horwitz put pressure on Priester. He hung a slider over the plate to Tommy Pham, who got his bat to the ball early for a double pulled to left field, sending the Pirates ahead to a 2-1 lead.
The fourth inning proved to be another key moment in Priester’s outing. After a first-pitch single to Cruz, the leadoff batter, and a stray sinker pegged the following batter, Priester forced a double play and another groundout to stifle any building momentum from the Pirates.
It was an uncertain performance up until this point, but Milwaukee’s starter locked in from there, with the double play marking the start of a run in which he recorded ten straight outs. Priester finished with seven innings pitched and two earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts and a walk. It was Priester’s eleventh straight victory, the best streak for consecutive starts in franchise history.
The Brewers, meanwhile, had created plenty of run-scoring opportunities, but couldn’t find the clutch hit. The team would finish 3-for-2o with runners in scoring position, only breaking through in the sixth inning once the Pirates removed their starter, Johan Oviedo. Their offensive burst was just as much a product of their solid approach as it was mistakes from Pittsburgh. Contreras and Frelick combined for a pair of singles, and a wild pitch pushed them to third and second base. Jake Bauers came through with the team’s first hit with runners in scoring position, bringing in both runs to give Milwaukee a 3-2 lead.
In the seventh, Milwaukee almost found a few more insurance runs, but missed out by a few inches. After Isaac Collins reached with a leadoff double and moved to third on a groundout, and Sal Frelick reached on a walk and stolen base, it looked like a sure-fire run scoring opportunity when Vaughn hit a hard liner to right field. Bryan Reynolds, however, ranged to make the catch with his arm at full extension to secure the third out of the inning.
Bauers led off the following inning with his second hit of the night. He stole second base, his seventh of the season, and moved to third on a tag up. With this small-ball approach setting up the situation, Brice Turang came through with an opposite field single to give the Brewers a 4-2 lead.
The Pirates defense caved in the ninth inning to give the Brewers a comfortable lead. Contreras found a one-out single, but after Frelick reached on an error and Vaughn singled on a play with another throwing error, it seemed like Pittsburgh was drained of energy. With a 5-2 lead in hand, it was certainly an odd way to find a victory. Milwaukee’s struggles with runners in scoring position meant it took a while to breakthrough, but with 10 hits and five walks on the night, the persistent pressure eventually was enough.
The bullpen, tasked with closing out Priester’s effective start, delivered. Jared Koenig and Abner Uribe pitched two shutout innings to end the game without allowing a runner. It was Uribe’s fifth save of the season as he lowered his ERA to 1.84.
The Brewers are back in action tomorrow evening with Brandon Woodruff slated to face off against Mitch Keller. First pitch is scheduled for 5:40 p.m.
