Major League Baseball

Pirates beat Brewers; Braun hurt again

Published Jun. 1, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

So much for all that momentum the Milwaukee Brewers brought back from their recent road trip.

The Pittsburgh Pirates scored six runs off Randy Wolf in the third inning, then went on to pound the Brewers 8-2 on Friday night. And Ryan Braun left the game after the seventh inning with another injury worry, aggravating the lingering tightness in his right Achilles tendon and straining his right hip.

''The danger in trying to play through an injury constantly, is it's easy to re-irritate it,'' Braun said. ''Your body also compensates so it's easy to hurt something else. I don't think it's too bad, but it doesn't feel too good right now.''

Kevin Correia (2-5) gave up two runs and five hits in 5 2-3 innings for the Pirates, who have won six of their last seven games. The Pirates came into Friday's game with a 4-38 record at Miller Park since the start of the 2007 season.

''We didn't play a good game today,'' Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. ''I still think the four games (in Los Angeles) did an awful lot for what we need to do going on.''

Nyjer Morgan hit a solo home run in the first inning for Milwaukee, snapping his Major League record of 138 straight plate appearances without an RBI to start the season. But Morgan's misplayed ball in the outfield played a critical role in the Pirates' big inning.

Corey Hart hit a solo home run, his 11th this season.

The Brewers were coming off a four-game road sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers - the team's longest winning streak this season - but didn't land back in Milwaukee until early Friday morning.

''I don't think we had too much wind after landing at seven in the morning,'' Braun said. ''You just turn the page and remember the fact that we played really well the last four days and hopefully tomorrow we get back on track.''

Wolf (2-5) went six innings, giving up the six runs and eight hits, with four walks and five strikeouts.

''The one inning killed me,'' Wolf said. ''That's pretty much the story.''

Morgan homered off Correia in the first, giving Milwaukee a 1-0 lead and snapping his RBI drought. The previous record was 125, by Herb Adams of the Chicago White Sox in 1950.

Wolf gave up back-to-back triples to start the third, as Andrew McCutchen drove in Josh Harrison.

Pedro Alvarez struck out, but Wolf allowed an RBI single to Neil Walker for a 2-1 Pirates lead.

Matt Hague singled, then Rod Barajas singled to drive in Walker - and Barajas took second base on the throw home from Braun. Wolf walked Jody Mercer to load the bases, and Correia hit a soft grounder that allowed third baseman Aramis Ramirez to throw out Hague at the plate.

With the bases still loaded, Jose Tabata lined a ball to center. Morgan initially broke in, then realized he was headed the wrong direction and made an awkward attempt at a leaping catch. The ball sailed over his head for a double and three runs scored, giving the Pirates a 6-1 lead.

Wolf finally got Harrison to fly out to end the inning.

Hart homered in the sixth, cutting the lead to 6-2.

Braun nagging Achilles injury was tested in the sixth, when he legged out an infield hit and stole second base, sending him limping back to the dugout during a pitching change. But Braun stayed in the game until the top of the eighth, when he was replaced.

''It's just a matter of trying to manage it and hope it's not too bad,'' Braun said. ''Some days I feel good. Some days not so good. But obviously I always feel like I can contribute even when I'm less than 100 percent.''

Notes: Former Brewer Casey McGehee received a round of applause when he went to bat in the eighth. ... Brewers 2B Rickie Weeks was a last-minute lineup scratch because of an illness. ... Friday's attendance was 33,055.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball