Thursday, August 25, 2011
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH
Maybe it was playing a day game after a night game. Perhaps it was playing a fourth game in three days on the heels of a doubleheader two nights earlier.
Whatever the reason, the Milwaukee Brewers looked sluggish Wednesday for the first time in a long time.
Aaron Thompson pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings in his major league debut and Jason Grilli won for the first time in nearly two years as four Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers combined on a five-hitter in a 2-0 victory over the Brewers.
“We didn’t swing the bats well,” Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke said. “When you don’t swing the bats well, you usually look sluggish.”
Thompson and Grilli kept the Brewers in check, then Jose Veras and Joel Hanrahan closed out the shutout with one scoreless inning each, sending Milwaukee to just its fifth loss in 29 games.
Hanrahan notched his 32nd save in 35 opportunities by striking out the side to work out of a jam. He had lost in his two previous appearances, both against Cincinnati.
Thompson allowed four hits while walking two and striking out one. He was on a pitch count after throwing just four innings in each of his previous two minor-league starts.
Thompson, 24, had his contract purchased from Triple-A Indianapolis before the game. He was needed to fill in for All-Star right-hander Kevin Correia, who went on the disabled list Monday with a strained oblique muscle.
A first-round draft pick of the Marlins in 2004, the left-handed Thompson was claimed off waivers by the Pirates from the Nationals last December.
“I was a little nervous but it wasn’t too bad,” Thompson said. “I got here [Tuesday] so I had a chance to get used to the clubhouse and the ballpark. I was around most of the guys in spring training and they reached out and made me feel welcome. So the nerves weren’t as bad as they might have been.”