Rookie Jungmann Shines In Debut As Brewers Top Pirates 4-1
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Taylor Jungmann pitched seven efficient innings in his major league debut to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.
Jungmann allowed one run on three hits, striking out five against just one walk as the Brewers won for the fourth time in their last five games. Jason Rogers and Aramis Ramirez each hit solo homers and drove in two runs for Milwaukee. Francisco Rodriguez worked a perfect ninth for his 12th save.
Starling Marte's 12th home run was the only mistake by Jungmann. The 25-year-old struggled recently at Triple-A but retired 13 straight at one point to send the Pirates to their second straight loss. Francisco Liriano (3-5) kept pace with Jungmann until the seventh, when a leadoff walk to Ryan Braun started a two-run rally that pushed the Brewers in front to stay.
Jungmann, Milwaukee's first-round pick in the 2001 draft, came in just 2-3 with a 6.37 ERA in Triple-A this spring but hardly seemed intimidated against the Pirates, whose surge over the last two weeks has come to an abrupt halt at the start of an eight-game homestand.
The Brewers shut out Pittsburgh 2-0 behind Jimmy Nelson on Monday and the towering 6-foot-6 Jungmann was nearly as sharp 24 hours later. His first major league strikeout was a pretty fastball on the inside corner to Andrew McCutchen to end the bottom of the first and Jungmann kept right on going.
Save for a brief stretch in the second when he gave up a solo homer to Marte, a double to Pedro Alvarez and hit Francisco Cervelli with a pitch - Jungmann had little trouble keeping the Pirates in check.
Liriano was nearly as crisp save for an 0-2 breaking ball that Rogers tucked into the first row of seats in left for a home run in the second and a quick strike by the Brewers in the seventh. Braun led off with a walk and went to third on a single up the middle by Carlos Gomez.
Braun scored on a chopper back to the mound by Ramirez and Rogers singled to center to make it 3-1. Liriano ended up working eight innings, giving up three runs on five hits.
DRAFT DAYS
The Pirates went pitching heavy in the second day of the amateur draft, taking six collegiate pitchers in rounds 3-10, including RHPs Jacob Taylor (Pearl River Community College), JT Brubaker (Akron), Seth McGarry (Florida Atlantic), Brett Helton (Utah), Logan Sendelbach (Tiffin) and LHP Brandon Waddell (Virginia). Infielder Mitchell Tolman (Oregon) and OF Casey Hughston (Alabama) were the only position players taken by Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Helton's father Barry spent four years as a punter in the NFL, winning a pair of Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers in 1989 and 1990.
Milwaukee took a younger approach to the second day of the draft. The Brewers grabbed three high schools on Tuesday: RHPs Nash Walter (Lindale, Texas) and Karsen Lindell (West Linn, Oregon) and OF Demi Orimoyle (St. Matthews HS, Ontario, Canada). Milwaukee also selected collegiate players SS Blake Allemand (Texas A&M), RHP Eric Hanhold (Florida), 3B George Iskenderian (Miami), RHP Nate Griep (Kansas State) and LHP Jake Drossner (Maryland).
UP NEXT
The series wraps up on Wednesday when Kyle Lohse (3-6, 6.59) faces Charlie Morton (3-0, 2.84). Lohse is 11-5 with a 4.02 ERA in 25 games against the Pirates but is 0-2 versus Pittsburgh this season. McCutchen is a career .311 hitter against Lohse, with three homers and 11 RBI. Morton is unbeaten since coming off the disabled list last month following hip surgery. He went 0-2 against Milwaukee last season, with both defeats coming when Lohse started for the Brewers.
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