PITTSBURGH (AP) — Willy Adames scored twice, Christian Yelich had two hits and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the sloppy Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 on Sunday.
Adames scored in the first and third as Milwaukee never trailed. The NL Central-leading Brewers took two of three in the series against the last-place Pirates.
In the first, Adames singled off Dillon Peters (0-1) and stole second base. Eduardo Escobar then grounded up the middle to second baseman Rodolfo Castro, who threw the ball into the visitors’ dugout, allowing Adames to score.
In the third, Adames walked and scored on a hard-hit Yelich fly ball that was misjudged by Pirates right fielder Gregory Polanco. Polanco started in, but the ball sailed over his head and short-hopped the wall for a double.
Kevin Newman doubled and scored on Ben Gamel’s infield single in the third for Pittsburgh. Newman had six hits and five doubles in the series against Milwaukee.
Neither team scored in the final six innings as the pitching staffs rebounded after allowing 24 combined runs in Saturday’s doubleheader.
“There’s going to be different types of games,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We pitched well enough today to make it hold up.”
Brent Suter (12-5) struck out two in the fifth to earn the win. Josh Hader pitched a perfect ninth for his 23rd save.
Counsell credited his bullpen’s effort after the unit covered 5 2/3 innings on Saturday.
“The tough part for those guys today was that they all pitched their inning with a one-run lead, so there was no margin for error,” Counsell said.
Brewers starter Eric Lauer pitched four innings in his return from the COVID-19 injured list. He gave up one run and three hits, struck out six and walked none.
Lauer had been out since Aug. 2.
“I wanted to go back out for the fifth,” he said. “I kind of picked back up where I left off. I didn’t miss a beat.”
Peters, who was acquired from the Los Angeles Angels for cash in July, made his Pirates debut. He allowed one earned run and five hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton said he expects Peters to remain in the rotation for at least one more turn.
ROSTER MOVES
Brewers: RHP Justin Topa was optioned to Triple-A Nashville. … LHP Aaron Ashby, the 27th man from Saturday, was also returned to Nashville.
Pirates: Peters was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis. …. RHP Shea Spitzbarth was returned to Indianapolis after serving as the 27th player on Saturday.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers: RHP John Curtiss was transferred to the 60-day IL with a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
Pirates: OF Anthony Alford, who had missed the last two games with a lower back strain, was placed on the 10-day IL. ... RHP Bryse Wilson was placed on the 10-day IL with right arm fatigue after pitching four innings Saturday. ... Gamel was reinstated from the 10-day IL. He had been out since Aug. 5 with a right hamstring strain.
UP NEXT
Brewers: RHP Corbin Burnes (7-4, 2.23 ERA) starts Tuesday night at St. Louis. Burnes tied an MLB record by striking out 10 straight batters in his last start against the Cubs.
Pirates: LHP Steven Brault (0-1, 3.00 ERA) starts Monday night at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Brault has pitched nine innings over two starts since returning from a lat strain Aug. 4.
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