Brewers finish sweep of Pirates

Associated Press

MILWAUKEE

A lost weekend for the Pittsburgh Pirates wound up with them losing their shortstop.

The Pirates were swept in a three-game series by the last-place Milwaukee Brewers, falling 6-1 Sunday and watching Jordy Mercer make an early exit.

Mercer was carted off the field after colliding with Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez while trying to make a tag in the second inning. Mercer couldn’t put pressure on his left leg and was helped onto the cart.

Mercer was returning to Pittsburgh after the game to have the injury evaluated.

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle called the injury “misfortunate.”

“I think if he’s [Gomez] on your team, it’s an aggressive slide,” he said. “If not, you know, he was straight into the base path with a sideways slide. It’s a baseball play. It’s not a gentleman’s game, but it’s a baseball play.”

Brewers manager Craig Counsell said he saw nothing wrong with Gomez’s slide and called the incident “an accident that you don’t like to see.”

Jeff Locke (5-6) allowed three runs in 7 1/3 innings.

Hurdle said it was a “very competitive outing” for Locke.

“He had a very competitive fastball on both sides of the plate (and) a very good changeup,” he said.

Locke said he got in trouble the third time through the lineup.

“They always say the more times a team sees you, they better they’ll do,” he said. “I think it’s true.”

Pittsburgh had won 13 of 16 going into the All-Star break before getting swept at Miller Park.

Hurdle said he was not going to overreact to the tough start to the second half.

“The season has a long way to go,” he said. “We’ll look forward to starting the series there [Kansas City].”

Taylor Jungmann (5-1), added to the Brewers’ roster in early June, won his third straight decision.