The Pittsburgh Pirates were seeking their first sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers in a decade, but Kyle Harrison proved to be a roadblock.
The 24-year-old left-hander recorded a career high 12 strikeouts in six scoreless innings, and the Brewers used a five-run fourth inning for a 5-0 win Sunday afternoon at American Family Field.
“Unique fastball from the left side, mid-90s, something that we weren’t able to make the adjustment and get it down in the zone,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said of Harrison on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “He was throwing it by us pretty good.”
The Pirates were looking to sweep the Brewers for the first time in Milwaukee since a four-game series Aug. 25-28, 2016. Instead, the Brewers handed them their third shutout loss of the season.
The Pirates went with a lineup heavy on right-handed hitters — with Ryan O’Hearn the lone lefty, while Oneil Cruz and Brandon Lowe didn’t play — but it made no difference as Harrison (2-1) allowed one hit and one walk on 101 pitches over six innings. Every Pirates hitter struck out at least once as they finished with 18 strikeouts.
Pirates starter Carmen Mlodzinski (1-2) retired eight of the first nine batters he faced through the first three innings, with Brandon Lockridge the only baserunner to reach on a walk. But the Brewers got to Mlodzinski in the fourth, with five hits and a catcher’s interference by Joey Bart.
William Contreras worked a 10-pitch at-bat that culminated with a leadoff single, advanced to third on a ground-rule double that bounced over the fence in right-center by Jake Bauers and scored when Gary Sanchez grounded into a forceout. Luis Rengifo singled to center to score Bauers, David Hamilton doubled to right to drive in Sal Frelick, and Brandon Lockridge followed with a two-run single to left field to boost the Brewers’ lead to 5-0.
“Strong first time through the order, then the second time it seemed that at-bat with Bauers, he fell behind,” Kelly said of Mlodzinski. “(Bauers) hit the double, then he was having trouble putting them away at the end there.”
A day after beating the Brewers when Jacob Misiorowski topped triple digits 39 times, the Pirates couldn’t solve the soft-tossing Harrison. The southpaw relied on a pitch mix that featured a four-seam fastball that averaged 94.8 mph complemented by a slurve and changeup in the 80s, drawing 13 whiffs on 35 swings and eight called strikes.
Nick Gonzales started the seventh with a leadoff double, and Bryan Reynolds drew a walk but Brewers reliever Trevor Megill struck out Marcell Ozuna, got O’Hearn to fly out to right and Nick Yorke swinging to escape.
The Pirates loaded the bases in the eighth inning against lefty reliever Aaron Ashby when Konnor Griffin walked on four pitches, Bart reached on a fielder’s choice with an error by Hamilton at shortstop and Gonzales drew a two-out, full-count walk. But Reynolds grounded out to second base to end the rally.
“We had our chances, too, when you look at the seventh inning with two guys on and in the eighth inning loading the bases,” Kelly said. “We were a couple swings from being right in the thick of it and just couldn’t get the big hit today.”
Although the Pirates (16-12) didn’t complete a sweep, they won two of three games in the series over the Brewers (14-13). The Pirates return to PNC Park for a seven-game homestand, facing the St. Louis Cardinals in a four-game series followed by a three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds.
“We’ve got a big series against the Cardinals coming up and the Reds come in after that,” Kelly said. “Going on the road against Texas and Milwaukee, you’re never really satisfied with 3-3. The way we played against the Brewers here, we’ll definitely take that going home and get back home in front of our fans. Looking forward to getting back to Pittsburgh and playing some good baseball against division opponents.”