Milwaukee salvages series; Gallardo goes six innings

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Yovani Gallardo came off the disabled list and pitched six shutout innings, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night.

Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks both homered for the second time in the series for the Brewers, who allowed a combined 26 runs in losing the previous two games.

Gallardo (9-4), named to his first All-star game the day he sustained a left oblique strain in St. Louis on July 4, did not allow a runner to advance past second base. He gave up five hits and a walk, striking out five.

Gallardo rescued what had been a four-day stretch of historically bad Milwaukee starting pitching. During three of the previous four games, a Brewers starter had allowed 10 runs or more — the first time that had happened since three St. Louis Browns pitchers did it in over a four-day span in 1937, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Gallardo has won nine of his past 11 decisions and improved to 6-1 with a 1.80 ERA with 69 strikeouts in 60 innings in 10 career starts against the Pirates.

Chris Capuano got Garret Jones to ground out weakly to end a threat in the seventh, and he recorded the first out of the eighth. John Axford retired the final five Pirates for his 13th save in as many opportunities.

Pittsburgh, which had scored 48 runs in winning four of its previous five, was limited to a two-run double by Neil Walker in the seventh off Todd Coffey.

Walker and Jones both had two hits for the Pirates. Rookie Pedro Alvarez, who had homered twice in each of the two previous games, went 0 for 4.

Fielder homered to lead off the fourth.