‘Hardy’ a surprise: Pirates lose to Milwaukee again

May 6, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — J.J. Hardy broke out of a slump by driving in four runs on three hits and the Milwaukee Brewers beat Pittsburgh 8-5 on Tuesday night for their 17th consecutive victory over the Pirates, the majors’ longest winning streak by one team against another in nearly 40 years.

The Brewers’ domination of the Pirates is the longest since Baltimore won 23 consecutive games against Kansas City during the 1969 (11) and 1970 (12) seasons. The Pirates haven’t beaten the Brewers since May 22, 2008, and won’t get another chance until the teams meet again July 20 in Pittsburgh.

Hardy was 3-of-27 before reaching base four times on two run-scoring singles, an RBI double and a walk to help Milwaukee open a 6-2 lead in the sixth behind Jeff Suppan (2-2). The right-hander labored through 5 2-3 innings to improve to 13-3 against the Pirates in his career and 6-0 in his last eight starts despite permitting five hits, three runs and walked three.

Pirates starter Ian Snell (1-4) struggled even more in losing to Milwaukee for the second time in seven days. He was pulled after 94 pitches — 37 fewer than he threw during a 1-0 loss to the Brewers last Wednesday. He gave up five runs and four hits and walked five in five-plus innings.

Carlos Villanueva pitched the ninth inning for his third save in six opportunities as Trevor Hoffman took the night off.