Brewers 7, Pirates 6
Aramis Ramirez went 4-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs while pinch hitter Caleb Gindl drove in the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning with a sacrifice fly as visiting Milwaukee outlasted Pittsburgh.
Yuniesky Betancourt doubled off Bryan Morris (5-7) with one out in the eighth, moved to third on Scooter Gennett’s bunt single and scored on Gindl’s fly to right as the Brewers won the opener of the three-game set. The Pirates fell 1 1/2 games behind first-place St. Louis in the National League Central.
Rob Wooten (3-0) gave up one run in 1 2/3 innings, Brandon Kintzler worked a perfect eighth and Jim Henderson retired Gaby Sanchez with two on in the ninth to record his 22nd save in 25 opportunities.
Ramirez hit a solo homer in the second – the 350th of his career – and ripped a two-run double during a three-run fifth as Milwaukee took a 5-0 lead. Pittsburgh tallied four times in the bottom of the fifth as Brewers right fielder Norichika Aoki was unable to catch pinch hitter Felix Pie’s two-out RBI double and Neil Walker followed with a three-run blast to right.
The Pirates forged a tie on Pie’s RBI single to right in the sixth. Ramirez put the Brewers back ahead with a run-scoring single in the seventh before Pedro Alvarez hammered a tying homer off the right-field foul pole in the bottom of the frame for one of his four hits.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Pirates acquired OF Marlon Byrd and C John Buck from the New York Mets for minor-league INF Dilson Herrera and a player to be named. … Brewers starter Kyle Lohse gave up five runs and a season-high 13 hits in 5 1/3 innings, while Pittsburgh’s Jeff Locke gave up five runs and eight hits over 4 2/3 frames in his seventh straight winless outing. … Injured Pittsburgh OF Starling Marte (right hand) saw a hand specialist on Tuesday. It was determined he doesn’t need surgery, but that it would be at least two more weeks before he can swing a bat.