Brewers batter Locke, Pirates

[July 21, 2016]  PITTSBURGH -- The Milwaukee Brewers were a frustrated team following successive walk-off losses, so they decided to start taking better at-bats and swinging at better pitches.

It couldn't have worked much better.

Jonathan Lucroy drove in three runs, Jonathan Villar got the Milwaukee offense going by reaching base four straight times and the Brewers roughed up Pittsburgh Pirates starter Jeff Locke during a 9-5 victory Wednesday night.

Villar, the Brewers' leadoff hitter, had two singles, a pair of walks, a run scored, a stolen base and an RBI to lead an offense that had 12 huts, nine walks and scored in five different innings.

"We did it by grinding out at-bats, and kept getting runners on base. Nine walks is pretty impressive," manager Craig Counsell said. "We put pressure on them every inning."

Scooter Gennett and Chris Carter added a pair of RBIs each as the Nos. 3-6 batters for Milwaukee -- Ryan Braun, Lucroy, Carter and Gennett -- combined for five hits, five runs scored and seven RBIs.

"We started taking better swings at better pitches," Lucroy said. "(We) had good at-bats all night long. We had a lot of walks and lot of good at-bats."

Locke (8-6) absorbed much of the damage, giving up five runs and seven hits and walking five over three-plus innings before Milwaukee added four more runs against Pittsburgh's bullpen.

"I was never able to get ahead in the count consistently," Locke said. "I kept falling behind and even when I'd get strike one or strike two, I'd follow it up with ball one, ball two, ball three. That was my biggest problem."

With the Brewers already up 5-4, they scored three times in the sixth against relievers A.J. Schugel and Arquimedes Caminero on walks to Villar and Braun, Hernan Perez's single, Lucroy's key two-run single to left field and Carter's sacrifice fly.

"I thought that (Lucroy) was at-bat of the game -- he got down 0-2 and he worked his way back, fouled off some pitches and got an off-speed pitch up in the zone," Counsell said.

The Brewers put up another run in the eighth on Braun's one-out triple off Juan Nicasio and Lucroy's sacrifice fly.

Brewers starter Chase Anderson lasted only four innings before five relievers finished up with an inning apiece. Carlos Torres (2-1) got the win despite allowing a run in the fifth.

"Sometimes it's challenging definitely when they bring in new bullpen guys you haven't faced in a while," Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer said.

Anderson, now winless in his past six starts, aided himself offensively by delivering the key hit of a two-run second inning -- a single that drove in a run and set up Villar's RBI single -- and walking to start the fourth inning.

"As a starting pitcher you want to help yourself and help your team, getting hits is part of the game and getting a walk, getting on base is huge," Anderson said. "I'm just trying to do my part."

But Anderson labored again on the mound, lasting only four innings and failing to figure in the decision despite leaving with a 5-3 lead. Anderson is averaging only five innings per start in his 18 starts, and he didn't reach even that Tuesday.

Pirates starting pitcher Jeff Locke (49) delivers a pitch against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

And while he helped himself take that 2-0 lead with a solid hit to right field, which following a flick-of-the-wrist double by Carter that missed by a foot of being a homer and a walk, he gave the lead back in the bottom of the second.

The Pirates started the three-run inning with four consecutive hits, including doubles by Francisco Cervelli and Josh Harrison and Mercer's two-run single to center.

The Brewers immediately took the lead back at 4-3 in the third against Locke on Gennett's two-run double, which followed Braun's leadoff single and Lucroy's walk.

Locke was lifted after loading the bases in the fourth on a pair of walks around Villar's single. Reliever Jared Hughes came on to retire the first two batters he faced, but Carter walked with the bases loaded -- one of six walks the Brewers drew in the first five innings -- to make it 5-3.

With Anderson out of the game, the Pirates got a run back in the fifth against reliever Carlos Torres on David Freese's one-out RBI double.

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle was ejected three batters into the game for arguing Braun was struck by a batted ball in fair territory. Braun subsequently grounded into a double play.

"I don't know what he said -- that's a short leash," Mercer said of Hurdle's rapid ejection.

NOTES: Beginning with Wednesday's game against the Brewers, 38 of the Pirates' final 69 games are against teams that currently have losing records. ... Pirates RHP Ryan Vogelsong gave up two runs and four hits, including a homer, in four innings Wednesday during a rehabilitation start at Triple-A Indianapolis. Vogelsong hasn't pitched in the majors since being hit in the head with a pitch May 23. ... The Brewers' Hernan Perez acknowledged being scared about hitting Pirates RHP Jameson Taillon in the back of the head with a 107-mph line drive during the second inning Tuesday. Taillon stayed in the game, but is being checked regularly by the Pirates' medical staff under MLB's concussion protocol. ... With a succession of 90-degree days upcoming in Pittsburgh, the Pirates' relievers shaved their heads. ... Two Brewers coaches, Lee Tunnell and Darnell Coles, played for the Pirates during the 1980s.

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