Bryan Reynolds connected on his third home run of the season, but it wasn’t enough for the Pittsburgh Pirates in their 3-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park on Wednesday night.
Facing former Pirates pitcher Bryse Wilson in the third inning, Reynolds belted a 3-1 cutter left over the plate into the stands in right-center field.
After the third inning, Wilson and four relief pitchers shutout the Pirates (13-12) over the games’ final six innings. Bryan Hudson (2-0) was awarded the win and Joel Payamps closed out the win for his fourth save of the season.
With the tying run on third base and the winning run on first and two outs, Andrew McCutchen pinch hit for Henry Davis but struck out swinging.
Josh Fleming made his first start with the Pirates and first since last May when he was with the Tampa Bay Rays. The left-hander went through the Brewers’ lineup one time and exited with two runners on in favor of Luis Ortiz.
William Contreras greeted Ortiz with an RBI-single to center, one of his three hits on the day. Ortiz’s control then got away from him. He plunked Willy Adames with a pitch which loaded the bases. Two batters later, he hit Rhys Hoskins to bring in another one for Milwaukee (14-9) before walking Blake Perkins to put the Brewers up 3-0.
Following Ortiz, Roansy Contreras and Hunter Stratton both tossed a pair of scoreless innings and combined for three strikeouts.
The Pirates and Brewers will conclude their four-game series on Thursday afternoon . Mitch Keller (2-2, 4.80 ERA) will get the start for the Pirates. For Milwaukee, it will be Freddy Peralta Freddy Peralta (2-0, 1.90 ERA). First pitch: 12:35 ET.
