Brault, Pirates blank Brewers

Associated Press

MILWAUKEE

After dominating the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field over three days, the Milwaukee Brewers were rendered almost lifeless by Pittsburgh rookie Steven Brault and the reeling Pirates.

Brault and four relievers combined on a three-hitter to lift the Pirates to a 7-0 victory over Milwaukee on Monday night.

Milwaukee didn’t get a runner past first base against the Pirates and fell 21/2 games behind Chicago in the NL Central after outscoring the Cubs 20-3 in a three-game sweep at Wrigley Field over the weekend.

“There was not much good that happened,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said. “It was a frustrating day. There was never any point where we got anything good started.”

Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Jordy Mercer homered for Pittsburgh, which staggered into the game with a five-game losing streak.

“We got off to a quick start,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said of McCutchen’s two-run home run in the first inning. “We followed that up with some hard contact. From the top to the bottom of the lineup, we had some consistent, quality swings.”

Brault (1-0), making his second start of the season, used his fastball to keep the Brewers off-balance, only allowing a fourth-inning walk to Ryan Braun and a fifth-inning leadoff single to Jesus Aguilar. He struck out six in six innings for his first win in the majors. Brault also helped at the plate, going 2 for 3 with a double and a bases loaded, two-RBI single in the sixth to give Pittsburgh a 6-0 lead.