Hoffman gets first save for Brewers

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Trevor Hoffman saved his first game with the Brewers and Bill Hall and Rickie Weeks homered in the sixth inning to rally Milwaukee to a 6-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.

The Brewers trailed 5-1 before they scored two runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth on Hall’s solo homer to start the inning off Pirates starter Paul Maholm and Weeks’ go-ahead, two-run shot off Jesse Chavez.

The 41-year-old Hoffman, the all-time saves leader who signed a one-year deal with Milwaukee in the offseason, got his first save with the Brewers and 555th of his career one night after making his first appearance with Milwaukee.

Hoffman, who spent the first three weeks of the season on the DL with a strained oblique, allowed a leadoff single to Ramon Vazquez, but struck out Nyjer Morgan and forced Freddy Sanchez to ground into a double play to end it.

It was Milwaukee’s 14th straight win over Pittsburgh, the longest active streak by one team over another in the majors, and 17th in a row in Miller Park, where the Pirates haven’t won since May 3, 2007.

The Pirates, who will leave Milwaukee with their first winning April in seven years even if they are swept on Wednesday, haven’t gotten strong pitching performances in Milwaukee they did the first three weeks of the season.

Maholm, 0-5 with a 5.59 ERA in his last eight starts against the Brewers, pitched in and out of trouble all night, stranding the bases loaded in the third and fourth inning while scattering seven hits and five walks.

But the 26-year-old left-hander finally faltered in the fifth on an RBI double by Ryan Braun, who later came around to score on Mike Cameron’s groundout that cut the lead to 5-3.

Maholm failed to get out of the sixth after giving up the homer to Hall and a one-out single to Craig Counsell.

Weeks, who has homered in consecutive games, hit the second pitch from Chavez (0-1) over the left field wall after committing an error that cost Milwaukee a run in the third and popping out with the bases loaded to end the fourth.

Weeks’ homer put reliever Jorge Julio (1-0) in line for the win after pitching a perfect sixth inning. Mitch Stetter pitched the seventh and Todd Coffey the eighth before Hoffman entered to AC/DC’s “Hells Bells.”

Brewers starter Dave Bush, who took a no-hitter into the eighth in his previous start on Thursday at Philadelphia, hit three batters and walked another as the Pirates built a 5-1 lead off Eric Hinske’s two-run double in the third, Morgan’s sacrifice fly in the fourth and Jason Jaramillo’s two-out, two-run double in the fifth.

Notes

Brewers GM Doug Melvin said he’s happy with his pitching staff despite being linked briefly in a report as being interested in free agent RHP Pedro Martinez. Melvin said Tuesday one reason they have no interest in Martinez is there is no way to evaluate him. “The guy’s not pitching anywhere, so I’ve got nothing to judge him on,” Melvin said. ... Brewers C Mike Rivera was pinch hit for in the fourth after spraining his left ankle on a play at the plate in the top half of the inning. Rivera is Bush’s personal catcher.