The Pirates' lack of a real bullpen really hurt here, I think. Yovani Gallardo and Ian Snell had a perfectly nice pitchers' duel going after six (and Gallardo in particular was dominant, striking out eleven Pirates and only allowing two hits and one walk over eight innings). Around that time, Snell had thrown a ton of pitches and the Bucs had Tyler "Flood Gates" Yates warming up in the bullpen, which gives a sense of what John Russell might have thought his choices were. Russell left Snell in to face the Brewers' 8th, 9th and leadoff hitters in the seventh. Snell looked gassed, and he hung a fastball against Gallardo, who smacked it deep into the left field seats. Russell then let Snell finish the inning, which almost made things much worse--Snell walked Rickie Weeks and looked like he just couldn't find the plate anymore. Snell left the game having thrown 131 pitches, which seemed like too many, considering both the number and the way he looked out there.
Anyway, a tip of the hat to Gallardo, who did just about everything in his power to win this game for the Brewers. The Bucs have lost fifteen consecutive games against Milwaukee, and they finish April back at one game above .500; at least the bullpen will be fresh for the beginning of the series against Cincinnati, which starts Friday.