Bay, Nady homer as Pirates avoid sweep by Milwaukee

The Brewers had lost nine straight road games before this week’s series.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jason Bay and Xavier Nady homered and the Pittsburgh Pirates took advantage of Milwaukee’s inability to drive in runners to beat the Brewers 8-4 Thursday night and avoid a series sweep.

The Brewers, losers of nine in a row on the road before the series started Tuesday, were denied their first three-game sweep in Pittsburgh since PNC Park opened in 2001. They are 22-43 there, the worst record of any opposing team.

A night after Brewers ace Ben Sheets allowed 11 hits but still pitched a complete game to defeat Pittsburgh 4-1, the Brewers got 14 hits but left a season-high 14 on base. They were 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position, failing repeatedly to get to Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny (4-4), who won despite giving up eight hits and walking four in five-plus innings.

Gorzelanny helped himself get the victory, driving in a run with his first hit in 23 at-bats, dating to last season, with a single during the Pirates’ four-run fourth inning against starter Dave Bush (1-5).

After Nate McLouth singled and Bay homered off the center field batter’s backdrop for his 11th of the season to out the Pirates up 2-1, Bush hit Nady with a pitch ahead of Adam LaRoche’s single. One batter later, Raul Chavez — a .214 career hitter brought up by Pittsburgh last week — singled to center to make it 3-1 and Gorzelanny followed with his RBI single.

McLouth had his first four-hit game to boost his average to .314. He singled in the fifth and scored on Nady’s seventh homer, which made it 6-1. Chris Gomez added a two-run single in the seventh against reliever Zach Johnson.

Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks hit solo homers leading off an inning, but the Brewers couldn’t score despite having runners on second and third with one out in the second, loading the bases with two out in the fourth following Hart’s leadoff homer and having runners on first and third with two out in the fifth.

The Brewers’ previous season high was 12 runners left on base.

Bush’s shaky start was nothing new on the road, where the right-hander is 0-4 with a 7.67 ERA in six games. Bush lasted five innings, giving up six runs and nine hits, three by McLouth.

McLouth, who also scored twice, broke out of a slump in which he hit .196 over his previous 12 games.

Gorzelanny won for the third time in four starts despite constantly pitching with runners on base, an ongoing problem for a pitcher who has walked 35 in 45 2/3 innings this season.