21 games and counting
MILWAUKEE — No matter the season, the Milwaukee Brewers keep beating the Pittsburgh Pirates at home.
Shortstop Craig Counsell helped Milwaukee turn a season-high four double plays and drove in two runs as the Brewers beat the Pirates for the 21st straight time at home, 4-1 Sunday.
The Brewers' streak is the longest such string in the majors since the Indians beat the Baltimore franchise 27 times in a row at Cleveland Municipal Stadium from 1952-54.
"That's obviously a horrible stat," said Pirates third baseman Andy LaRoche, a minor leaguer for the Dodgers when Pittsburgh last won in Milwaukee on May 3, 2007. "I knew it was a lot, I didn't know how many it was. We still go out there and try to win no matter who we're playing."
Milwaukee has dominated Pittsburgh recently, going 33-12 no matter where the teams meet in the last three seasons.
The streak has been one of the lone bright spots in Milwaukee's disappointing summer after the Brewers had high hopes to return to the postseason.
Milwaukee entered July with a two-game lead in the NL Central, but just finished 10-12 in a 22-game stretch against opponents with sub-.500 records while St. Louis opened up a huge lead in the division.
"When you're 12 games out, every game is like hanging on the cliff," Counsell said.
Now, they'll play the Cardinals nine more times — including six times in the next nine days starting Tuesday — and face the Cubs six times down the stretch. The Brewers also have series with San Francisco and Colorado in September.
"The Cardinals are next, it doesn't seem like they ever lose," Counsell said. "Their starting pitching is phenomenal. You look at the guys you're going to face and you've got your work cut out for you."
Jeff Suppan (6-8) earned his first win since June 12 with six solid innings on his bobblehead day and drew a go-ahead walk in the fifth after the Pirates issued an intentional walk to load the bases. He'd been 0-4 with a 6.70 ERA in his last nine starts and spent nearly a month on the disabled list with a strained oblique muscle.
Suppan allowed eight hits and three walks, and Counsell was the key reason why Suppan got 13 ground-ball outs. The veteran duo also helped out at the plate after Casey McGehee homered in the second for Milwaukee.
With the score 1-all, McGehee led off the fifth with a single against Ross Ohlendorf (11-9) and Jason Kendall doubled.
Ohlendorf intentionally walked Frank Catalanotto to bring up Suppan, who laid off a close 2-2 pitch before taking ball four that walked in McGehee.
