Pittsburgh 4 at Milwaukee 1 - Recap

MILWAUKEE -- Home runs from Andrew McCutchen and Sean Rodriguez paced the Pittsburgh Pirates offense and Chad Kuhl struck out six in a 4-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night at Miller Park.

McCutchen and Rodriguez finished with two hits each while Rodriguez drove in three runs.

Kuhl (5-3) held Milwaukee to a run on five hits and a walk over six innings of work and earned his second consecutive victory. He's allowed two earned runs or less in seven of his last nine starts.

Pittsburgh's bullpen again held Milwaukee at bay; after working four scoreless innings a night earlier, the Pirates' relievers put up three more zeroes Wednesday night and Tony Watson earned his 15th save of the season with a scoreless ninth.

The Pirates have now won six straight games at Miller Park, where they are 23-64 since the start of the 2007 season.

Both Pirates home runs came at the expense of Jimmy Nelson, who surrendered four runs on six hits and a pair of walks while striking out five over five innings of work.

For the second straight night, the Pirates jumped on Brewers pitching early, scoring three off Nelson in the first inning behind McCutchen's 24th homer of the season and a two-run single from Rodriguez.

Rodriguez struck again in the fourth, leading off the inning with a home run to left that gave Pittsburgh a 4-0 game.

Nelson got out of the inning without further damage but Brewers manager Craig Counsell didn't; he was ejected with two out for arguing a fair-or-foul ruling with home plate umpire Jerry Layne.

Milwaukee finally broke the shutout in the fifth, making it a 4-1 game on an RBI single by Jonathan Villar.

NOTES: Brewers manager Craig Counsell said RHP Taylor Jungmann will start Saturday against the Reds as Milwaukee switches to a six-man rotation to finish out the season. ... Pirates OF Starling Marte took part in pregame workouts again Wednesday and might be available off the bench if needed, manager Clint Hurdle said. Back spasms have kept Marte sidelined for Pittsburgh's last 15 games. ... Hurdle also said RHP A.J. Schugel returned to Pittsburgh to get a second opinion on his right shoulder. Schugel hasn't pitched since Aug. 30. ... RHP Neftali Feliz, out with right arm soreness since Sept. 3, was cleared for flat-ground throwing by the Pirates' medical staff Tuesday. ... C Manny Pina was back with the Brewers after missing their game Tuesday for the birth of his daughter. Milwaukee was still without LF Ryan Braun, whose wife gave birth to the couple's second child Tuesday.