Brewers beat Pirates as Mitch Keller drops fourth decision in last five games
PITTSBURGH — Jake Bauers and Jackson Chourio hit two-run home runs, and Brandon Woodruff pitched six scoreless innings as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 Saturday night.
Bauers connected with two outs in the fourth inning off Mitch Keller (6-14) to break a scoreless tie immediately after William Cotreras singled. It was the sixth home run of the season for Bauers, who had two hits.
Keller gave up two runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings, and lost for the fourth time in his last five starts.
The Pirates avoided being shut out when Oneil Cruz hit an RBI groundout in the ninth inning.
Jared Triolo and Bryan Reynolds each had two of the last-place Pirates’ five hits as they lost consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 16-17.
Chourio hit his 19th homer in the eighth off Evan Sisk to double the National League Central-leading Brewers’ advantage.
Woodruff (6-2) allowed just two hits while striking out eight and walking none. He had allowed five earned runs in each of his previous two starts.
Aaron Ashby, the fourth Brewers’ reliever, got the last four outs for his third save.
The Brewers extended their lead in the division to 6 1/2 games over the Chicago Cubs with 19 games remaining. The Cubs lost to Washington 3-1 Saturday.
The Brewers’ Sal Frelick went 2 for 4 to raise his batting average to .299.
The Pirates put runners on first and second in the seventh inning while trailing 2-0 but Rob Zastryzny induced Nick Yorke to foul out to end the inning.
Contreras is the fifth player in Brewers’ history to catch 1,000 innings in back-to-back seasons. The others were Darrell Porter (1974-75), B.J. Surhoff (1990-91), Jason Kendall (2008-09), and Jonathan Lucroy (2013-14).
Rookie RHP Jacob Misiorowski (4-2, 4.50 ERA) will pitch for the Brewers on Sunday. Pirates rookie RHP Bubba Chandler (2-0, 2.25) will make his first major league start.
