Pirates 8, Brewers 3
Josh Harrison homered and drove in a career-high five runs and Jeff Locke gave up two hits in six innings as visiting Pittsburgh defeated Milwaukee in the opener of a three-game set.
Andrew McCutchen homered and scored twice as the Pirates won for only the second time in seven 2014 road games against the Brewers. Milwaukee maintained its 1 1/2-game lead over St. Louis in the National League Central while Pittsburgh remained 2 1/2 games behind San Francisco for the NL’s second wild card.
Locke (5-3) allowed two runs and overcame six walks before leaving after 91 pitches. Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo (8-7) allowed six runs (three earned) and eight hits in five innings.
Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer in the first to put Milwaukee ahead and Pittsburgh answered with three runs in the second, capped by Harrison’s two-run double off the right-center field fence. McCutchen reached on an infield hit in the third and Neil Walker tripled him home to give the Pirates a 4-2 advantage.
Harrison stroked an RBI single in the fourth and McCutchen smacked his homer in the fifth to make it 6-2. Harrison finished off his stellar performance with a two-run homer in the eighth off Brandon Kintzler.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Harrison had failed to drive in a run in 17 consecutive games prior to his career-best outing. … Milwaukee 3B Aramis Ramirez reached base four times on a hit and three walks. … The victory was only Pittsburgh’s 14th in 67 contests at Miller Park dating to the beginning of the 2007 season.