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 Nelson pitched six strong innings and combined with three relievers
on a five-hit shutout as the Brewers blanked the Pittsburgh Pirates
2-0 Monday.
"We knew going in it was going to be one of those nights where, as
they said, rain all night," Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said.
"We were just going to be playing through it."
Nelson (3-6) gave up four hits as he won for just the second time in
his past 11 starts. The right-hander struck out six and walked three
after giving up 11 runs in 11 innings over his previous two starts.
"It was a long one," Nelson said. "Those ones it's definitely a lot
nicer to come out with that win."
Two of Nelson's three victories this season came against the
Pirates.
Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said his team's game plan was to get
Nelson to make mistakes with his sinker, but that rarely happened.
"The pitches to these guys looked like they were up (in the strike
zone) out of his hand, but there was just so much late action on
(the sinker) that we weren't able to do a whole lot with it," Hurdle
said.
Milwaukee right-handers Jonathan Broxton, Jeremy Jeffress and
Francisco Rodriguez pitched one inning each. Rodriguez notched his
11th save.
The final out was made at 12:28 a.m. ET as there were rain delays of
28 minutes in the bottom of the fourth inning and one hour, 45
minutes at the end of the seventh.
The Brewers scored their first run in the fifth when third baseman
Aramis Ramirez led off with a single, moved to third on left fielder
Gerardo Parra's double and scored on shortstop Jean Segura's
groundout.
That came right after the first delay, but tough-luck losing pitcher
A.J. Burnett (6-2) said the extra wait to get back on the mound
wasn't responsible.
"I felt good the whole time," he said. "Parra's double was a big
hit. They scored on a ground ball, and that's pretty much it. The
rain didn't affect me at all."
Right fielder Ryan Braun singled home the Brewers' other run in the
eighth.
Braun, Ramirez and Parra each had two of the eight hits for the
Brewers (21-37), who won for the third time in four games.
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Burnett allowed only one run, five hits and one walk in seven
innings while striking out six. He won each of his previous six
starts overall, but he dropped to 2-7 lifetime against the Brewers,
including 0-4 in his past five starts against them.
Second baseman Neil Walker had three hits, including a double, for
the Pirates (31-26), who lost for just the second time in seven
games. They had also won four games in a row against the Brewers.
The Pirates put runners on second and third with one out in the
third and runners on first and third with no outs in the fifth, but
Nelson escaped the jams both times.
"We'd get in jams and Jimmy would just get better," Counsell said.
"He took control of those situations. You could see from the start
he had good movement on his pitches and he was going to have a good
night."
NOTES: Pirates CF Andrew McCutchen got the night off after feeling
pain in his left knee following his last plate appearance Sunday in
Atlanta. Manager Clint Hurdle said he had planned on giving
McCutchen a day off during the recently completed 10-game road trip,
but the four-time All-Star wanted to keep playing because he was
swinging the bat so well. ... Pittsburgh OF Gregory Polanco returned
to the lineup and played left field after being limited to
pinch-hitting duty Sunday because of a jammed left knee. ... The
Brewers will call up RHP Taylor Jungmann from Triple-A Colorado
Springs prior to Tuesday night's game, and he will make his major
league debut, starting against Pirates LHP Francisco Liriano (3-4,
2.34). Milwaukee's first-round draft pick in 2011, Jungmann is 2-3
with a 6.37 ERA in 11 games, including nine starts, for Colorado
Springs.
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