Pirates blow out Brewers, beat up on Wei-Chung Wang

The Pirates crushed the Brewers 11-2 on Thursday, building a lead behind Edinson Volquez and then extending it by beating up on a Rule 5 pick from their own farm system, Wei-Chung Wang.

Volquez made another strong start, allowing two runs in seven innings while striking out three and walking just one. Meanwhile, the Pirates scored two in the first on an Andrew McCutchen two-run homer, then went berserk in the late innings. Josh Harrison hit a two-run homer in the seventh, and McCutchen drove in a run on a force out after the next two batters reached base.

With the Pirates up 5-2, the Brewers turned to former Pirates farmhand Wei-Chung Wang in the eighth. Wang flashed great stuff for a lefty, repeatedly hitting 94 MPH. But the Pirates destroyed him, piling up six runs on a foul-pole-clanking homer by Gaby Sanchez, an RBI double by Jose Tabata, a run-scoring single by Russell Martin, and then Pedro Alvarez's three-run, opposite-field jack.

Wang, of course, had never pitched above the Gulf Coast League before the Brewers picked him in the Rule 5 Draft, and if today's performance is any indication, he's not ready for prime time. Here's hoping the Pirates' offensive outburst is a first step that leads to him getting back into the Pirates' farm system where he belongs. That first big-league paycheck will go a long way toward buying his teammates lunch in West Virginia this summer.