PITTSBURGH (WITI)--- Coming off of a 10-3 drubbing, the Milwaukee Brewers held the Pittsburgh Pirates to only 2 runs, But the result was the same as the Brewers fell 2-1 to the Pirates. The win give the Pirates 50 on the season. They are the first team to reach the plateau this season. It also pushed the Brewers 17 1/2 games behind the Pirates in the standings.
Pedro Alvarez blasted a 455 foot home run in the second inning that landed in the river beyond the right field stands to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
Two innings later, Garrett Jones took a Donovan Hand pitch deep, giving the Pirates a 2-0 lead. Hand ended up with the loss, but pitched well. He pitched 5 innings, allowing 2 earned runs off of 5 hits. Francisco Liriano, who got the win, pitched even better, going 7 innings, allowing only 1 run on 7 hits, striking out 6.
The Brewers were able to cut the lead to 2-1 in the 6th when Yuniesky Betancourt singled in Carlos Gomez.
The bright spot for the Brewers on Saturday was their pitching, including John Axford. He pitched a scoreless 8th inning making it 21 straight appearances without allowing a run.
On Sunday, the Brewers will look to avoid the sweep.