Pirates ride five-run second and Henry Davis' answer homer past Brewers 7-4

A second inning that stayed on the board

Milwaukee actually landed the first clean punch. David Hamilton singled to left in the second, Joey Ortiz scored, and Sal Frelick moved to second for a 1-0 Brewers lead. For a moment, it looked like the visitors had found the opening inning they needed.

The Pirates answered with the kind of half-inning that changes the entire shape of a game. Konnor Griffin doubled to left and brought home Ronny Simon and Jared Triolo, with Davis moving to third. Oneil Cruz followed with a single to left that scored Davis and Griffin. Then Brandon Lowe was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, forcing in Cruz. In one turn of the inning, 1-0 Milwaukee became 5-1 Pittsburgh.

That burst landed on Kyle Harrison, whose afternoon lasted 1 2/3 innings: four hits, five runs, four earned, two walks and 50 pitches. To Milwaukee’s credit, the game did not continue to unravel from there. Chad Patrick gave the Brewers 1 1/3 scoreless innings, JoJo Romero added a clean frame, and Garrett Stallings supplied three shutout innings with six strikeouts. The trouble was simpler than a total collapse. Once Pittsburgh had its crooked number, Milwaukee spent the rest of the day trying to erase a debt it never quite caught up to.

So much traffic, so little payoff

The Brewers had enough baserunners to make a comeback feel available all afternoon. They finished with nine hits, six walks, 42 plate appearances and 166 pitches seen, yet scored only four runs and stranded 21 runners. That is the most stubborn number in Milwaukee’s box score.

Their scoring after the second came in fragments rather than in one decisive wave. In the sixth, Bo Naylor hit a fielder’s-choice ball that brought home Ortiz when Griffin’s throwing error extended the play. In the eighth, Frelick’s sacrifice fly scored Garrett Mitchell, and moments later Naylor cut the deficit to 5-4 with a 338-foot homer to right that survived an umpire review. Ortiz scored twice, Frelick went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Naylor drove in two, but Milwaukee never found the inning that matched all of its traffic.

Pittsburgh’s pitching line tells its own story. Wilber Dotel gave the Pirates two innings and one run, Khristian Curtis covered 3 1/3 innings with one more run allowed despite three walks, and Gregory Soto plus Camilo Doval combined for 1 2/3 scoreless innings. That bridge was enough to get the Pirates to the late exchange of home runs. It was not a cruise, but it kept Milwaukee from turning all those baserunners into a full takeover of the game.

Our take: Pittsburgh’s extra-base hits carried more weight

Pittsburgh did not need more hits than Milwaukee; it needed heavier ones. The Pirates finished with only seven hits, but four went for extra bases: three doubles and Davis’ 423-foot homer to left. Griffin’s double started the turnaround, Cruz’s single finished the thickest part of the second-inning damage, and Davis’ late homer restored breathing room the instant Milwaukee had made the game uncomfortable.

That is why this result reads as a lesson in timing more than totals. Pittsburgh also created offense without swinging its way through every plate appearance: five walks, two hit batters and a catcher’s-interference call helped keep innings alive. Davis scored twice and drove in two, Simon crossed the plate twice, and Cruz and Griffin each produced two RBIs. The Pirates struck out 11 times, so this was hardly a flawless day at the plate, but when their chances arrived, they attached damage to them.

If Milwaukee wants a cleaner version of this matchup, the path is easy to identify even if the fix is not. The Brewers cannot pair nine hits and six walks with four runs and 21 left on base very often and expect the scoreboard to cooperate. They also needed the first 1 2/3 innings on the mound to cost less than five runs, because Harrison’s short outing left the bullpen protecting an early deficit for the rest of the game.

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, won while giving itself a few things to tidy up. Six Pirates pitchers combined for the nine innings, but they also issued six walks and needed 166 pitches to secure the result. Luke Weaver gave up three hits and two runs in 2/3 of an inning, nearly erasing the comfort created earlier, before Mason Montgomery’s 1 1/3 scoreless innings steadied the finish. In a 7-4 game defined by one explosive inning and one emphatic answer swing, the Pirates were simply better in the moments that carried the most weight.

Scoring moments

1. 2nd Inning

   Hamilton singled to left, Ortiz scored, Frelick to second.

2. 2nd Inning

   Griffin doubled to left, Simon scored and Triolo scored, Davis to third.

3. 2nd Inning

   Cruz singled to left, Davis scored and Griffin scored.

4. 2nd Inning

   Lowe hit by pitch, Cruz scored, Flores Jr. to second, Reynolds to third.

5. 6th Inning

   Naylor grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Ortiz scored on error, Frelick out at second, Naylor safe at second on throwing error by shortstop Griffin.

6. 8th Inning

   Frelick hit sacrifice fly to left, Mitchell scored.

7. 8th Inning

   Naylor homered to right (338 feet). Umpire review: call on the field was upheld.

8. 8th Inning

   Davis homered to left (423 feet), Simon scored.