Pirates 9, Brewers 3
PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh gained the upper hand early with a five-run third inning and Juan Nicasio delivered a quality start to lead the Pirates to a 9-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday in Pittsburgh.
The Pirates took two of three games from Milwaukee to earn their first series victory since they swept the St. Louis Cardinals to start the season.
After Andrew McCutchen grounded out and David Freese walked to start the third, the Pirates rapped out six hits and capitalized on Milwaukee's defensive miscues to score five runs. Gregory Polanco and Josh Harrison knocked RBI singles before two runs came around on shortstop Jonathan Villar's error.
John Jaso singled to right to put the Pirates up 6-0. Zach Davies, recalled Saturday night to join the Brewers rotation, didn't make it out of the third.
Davies (0-1) allowed six runs -- five earned -- and nine hits in 2 1/3 innings. He walked three.
Pittsburgh struck first in the second to take a 1-0 lead. Polanco led off with his National League-best 13th walk and advanced to third on Harrison's double. Jordy Mercer scored him with a sacrifice fly to left.
Nicasio began his day with three perfect innings but the Brewers countered with three runs in the fourth.
Chris Carter drove Scooter Gennett home from second with a single and Kirk Nieuwenhuis pushed two across the plate with a single to left-center field with the bases loaded.
Nicasio kept the Brewers off the board for the next three innings and rebounded well after he gave up four runs in three innings at Detroit on Tuesday.
Nicasio (2-1) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out six.
McCutchen hit his second home run in as many games in the fifth to extend Pittsburgh's lead to 7-3. Sean Rodriguez launched a 442-foot two-run home run in the eighth to put the game away.
Matt Joyce and Gregory Polanco collected three hits apiece. Four Pirates compiled multi-hit games Sunday.
NOTES: Pittsburgh OF Starling Marte was out of Sunday's lineup. Marte was hit by a pitch in the right hand during Saturday's game and was ruled out after a pregame evaluation. ... Milwaukee OF Ryan Braun was out of the starting lineup Sunday to receive a day off. Braun started each of the Brewers' first 11 games. ... Pittsburgh assigned 3B Jung Ho Kang (leg) and RHP Jared Hughes (back) to Triple-A Indianapolis to begin rehab assignments this week.