Pirates 10, Brewers 2
Pedro Alvarez homered twice and drove in four runs as visiting Pittsburgh defeated Milwaukee for the second straight night.
Russell Martin added a three-run homer and Neil Walker knocked in three runs as the Pirates moved within 1 1/2 games of San Francisco for the National League’s second wild card. The Brewers saw their lead over St. Louis drop to one-half game in the NL Central.
Edinson Volquez (11-7) gave up two runs and 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings to win his third straight decision. Milwaukee’s Wily Peralta (15-8) was roughed up for eight runs (seven earned) and seven hits in five innings and failed in his bid to become the majors' first 16-game winner.
Scooter Gennett homered in the second and Khris Davis smacked a run-scoring double in the third to give the Brewers a 2-0 edge. Alvarez drilled an opposite-field, three-run blast to left in the fourth to put the Pirates ahead.
Walker doubled in a run in the fifth and Martin hit a three-run blast to make it 7-2. Alvarez followed Martin’s homer with another opposite-field blast and Walker added RBI singles in the sixth and eighth innings.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Alvarez hadn’t homered since July 11 and the multi-homer outing was his third of the season. … Milwaukee SS Jean Segura didn’t start after making two errors on Friday but later entered the game in the sixth inning via a double switch. … Pittsburgh LF Starling Marte had two hits for his sixth multi-hit performance in eight games.