Brewers beat Pirates, Contreras has 3 hits
Joel Payamps #31 of the Milwaukee Brewers celebrates with teammate William Contreras #24 after defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 at PNC Park on April 24, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH - William Contreras had three hits and the Milwaukee Brewers used one big inning to edge the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 on Wednesday night.
The Brewers took advantage of a sloppy second inning by the Pirates to turn an error, two walks and two hit batters and an RBI single by Contreras into three runs.
Sal Frelick had two hits for Milwaukee, which snapped a two-game skid. Bryan Hudson (2-1) worked 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Joel Payamps overcame a pair of errors in the ninth for his third save.
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Bryan Reynolds hit a two-run homer for Pittsburgh, but the Pirates managed just four hits against five relievers in a bullpen game that favored the Brewers.
Bryse Wilson worked 4 1/3 innings while making his second start of the season. Wilson allowed two runs on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
The Pirates opted to give Quinn Priester a couple of extra days to rest after making his 2024 major-league debut in a rocky outing last Friday against Boston. Reliever Josh Fleming (1-1) served as the opener, a role he filled occasionally last season while with Tampa Bay.
Fleming cruised through the first two innings before running into trouble in the third. Frelick reached on an error by first baseman Rowdy Tellez and Brice Turang walked two batters later.
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Luis Ortiz came on in relief and promptly gave up an RBI single to Contreras. Ortiz, who was in the mix for a spot in the starting rotation during spring training before being sent to the bullpen, hit a pair of batters to force in a run and then walked Blake Perkins to give Milwaukee a 3-0 lead.
Reynolds' third home run of the season — a shot to the seats in right-center — in the bottom of the third brought Pittsburgh within one. But the Pirates never really threatened to tie it until the ninth, when two errors helped Pittsburgh put the tying run at third before Payamps struck out pinch-hitter Andrew McCutchen to end it.
Pittsburgh has scored two or fewer runs seven times in its last eight games, a stretch in which the Pirates are just 2-6.