Game Recap, July 28: Pirates defeat the Brewers 8-6

One night after blowing a four-run lead and losing, the Pirates came back from a four-run deficit of their own to win tonight’s matchup against the Brewers.

Sometimes baseball has a way of working itself out.

The Pirates drew first blood in the fourth inning when Guillermo Heredia slapped a two-run single into left field.

Derek Holland looked solid in his Pirates’ debut allowing two runs on two hits in 5.2 innings. He struck out five and walked three. His only mistake came in the sixth inning when Keston Hiura belted a two-run home run. That tied the game at two.

In the seventh inning, things got wacky. After recording the final out in the previous inning, Chris Stratton struggled to find the strike zone walking the first two batters faced. Some guy named Miguel Del Pozo then came on to relieve him. Things did not get better. Del Pozo walked an additional two batters and gave up a double. The Brewers led 5-2 at that point. After one last intentional walk, Del Pozo’s night was done. In total, he threw 16 pitches. Four were strikes.

Geoff Hartlieb was the next to attempt to clean things up. With no outs and the bases still loaded, Hartlieb was able to wiggle out of the inning with only one more additional run allowed. 6-2 Brewers.

Cole Tucker and John Ryan Murphy got things started with a pair of singles in the bottom of the seventh. Adam Frazier was then hit by a pitch. Kevin Newman then walked. After a Josh Bell pop out, Colin Moran hit a sharp ground ball to first base. What could have been a double play turned to disaster for the Brewers. Justin Smoak airmailed his throw into left field and two runs scored. Phillip Evans would eventually tie the game with a double.

In the top of the eighth, Hartlieb found himself in another jam after allowing a bunt single to Ryan Braun and seeing-eye ground ball single to Eric Sogard. With runners on first and third and zero outs, Avasail Garcia hit a medium-deep fly ball to left field. Bryan Reynolds made the catch and fired a laser home to nab Braun at the plate. Crisis averted.

Frazier hit a two-run bomb in the bottom of the eighth to give the Pirates an 8-6 lead. Nick Burdi came on in the ninth and recorded his first career save.

In the rubber match tomorrow night, Joe Musgrove will make his second start of the year, opposing Brandon Woodruff. The first pitch is at 7:05.