This one started really badly, as Kevin Correia allowed singles to Rickie Weeks and Carlos Gomez and then a three-run jack by Ryan Braun, all before getting a single out. Casey McGehee then added a solo homer of his own, and the first inning ended with the Brewers in control of a 4-0 lead.
In the second, the Brewers added an RBI triple by Braun, and in the third, it was an RBI double by Jonathan Lucroy. It began to feel academic to even worry about those runs, though, because Zack Greinke was just mowing the Pirates down, with a no-hitter through four.
After that, though, something happened. Neil Walker kicked off the fifth with an epic, 12-pitch at-bat that ended in a homer. That brilliant Walker at-bat seemed to take some of the wind out of Greinke who, later in the inning, gave up five straight hits, four for extra bases. I'm not sure how many pitches he threw that inning, but it was nearing 50, and I was a little surprised the Brewers stuck with him. It was equally surprising that the Pirates had an inning like that in the first place - it hasn't been often this year that the Bucs' tepid has managed to put together that kind of offense. The Pirates managed to narrow the Brewer lead to 6-5.
Unfortunately, that didn't last, as Lucroy hit a two-run homer on a terrible pitch by Chris Resop later in the inning. McGehee tacked on a run in the seventh when he reached second on a throwing error by Pedro Alvarez (that Lyle Overbay probably could have scooped, but didn't), advanced to third on a fly ball, and came home on a wild pitch.
The Pirates mounted a mini-comeback in the ninth inning, powered by a couple of bloop hits, but Jose Tabata grounded into a double play to end it.
Kudos to the Bucs for coming back from the dead not once but twice, but it wasn't enough.
Chris Snyder also was ejected in there for arguing balls and strikes, and I couldn't blame him - the home-plate ump was all over the place today.