Pirates drop 13th straight road contest
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE
Trevor Hoffman earned his 599th career save and Ryan Braun homered as the Milwaukee Brewers completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with an 8-4 victory Sunday.
The all-time saves leader entered the game with one out in the ninth and two runners on base, and retired both batters he faced to convert his eighth save in 13 chances this year. The right-hander lost his closer’s job to John Axford earlier in the season, but manager Ken Macha in recent weeks has allowed him to close games with leads of three runs or more in an effort to get him to 600 saves.
The Brewers roughed up Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton for eight runs in just 3 1-3 innings on a day where, for the first time, the retractable roof at Miller Park was positioned in an effort to diminish the shadows on the field.
The team said it consulted with umpiring crew chief Mike Reilly, then left two of the panels hanging over right field so the batter and pitcher were both in the shadows from the first pitch of the game. Hitters have complained for years that the shadows were particularly tough at Miller Park during day games.
With the loss, Morton (1-10) becomes the fifth Pittsburgh pitcher with at least 10 losses — the first time since 1954 the Pirates have had at least five hurlers with double-digit losses. The right-hander was making his first major league appearance in three months. He saw his ERA climb to 10.03 in 11 starts by giving up eight runs, seven earned, on nine hits and a walk with one strikeout.
Neil Walker, Ryan Doumit and Delwyn Young each homered off Milwaukee starter Dave Bush (7-11), but the right-hander only gave up four runs, three earned, and two walks with four strikeouts in seven innings to earn the win.
The Pirates have lost 13 consecutive road games.
Saturday
Lorenzo Cain hit a game-ending single in the 11th inning, lifting the Milwaukee Brewers to an 8-7.
Ryan Braun led off the 11th with a single off Wil Ledezma (0-1) and advanced to second when second baseman Neil Walker bobbled Prince Fielder’s sharp grounder for an error. Casey McGehee flied out to left before the Brewers rookie center fielder hit a line drive to left.
Kameron Loe (3-3) picked up the win after pitching a scoreless 11th.