Santana's Late Home Run Lifts Brewers Over Pirates 4-3
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Domingo Santana hit a two-run home run off Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Daniel Hudson in the seventh inning to lift the Milwaukee Brewers to a 4-3 victory Wednesday night.
Pinch-hitter Eric Thames cut Pittsburgh's lead to 3-2 with a run-scoring ground out in the seventh. Two batters later, Santana kept a 2-0 offering from Hudson (1-3) just fair down the right-field line to give the Brewers the lead.
Oliver Drake (3-2) received the win after pitching a scoreless seventh. Jacob Barnes struck out the side in the eighth and Corey Knebel recorded his 11th save by working around a one-out single in the ninth.
Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead in the third on consecutive doubles by Adam Frazier and Josh Harrison. The Brewers answered in the bottom half on a two-out RBI single by Santana.
John Jaso put Pittsburgh in front in the fifth with a two-out double that scored Frazier. Josh Bell made it 3-1 in the sixth with a solo shot off Brewers starter Junior Guerra.
Guerra used six strikeouts to help limit damage to just three runs despite issuing five walks and allowing seven hits over six innings.
Williams recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the sixth but immediately ran into trouble in the seventh. Keon Broxton led off with a single and Orlando Arcia followed with a double down the left-field line.
Reliever Tony Watson came on to get Thames to bounce into a run-scoring groundout and then struck out Eric Sogard before giving way to Hudson to face Santana.
Williams finished with a career-high seven strikeouts and worked into the seventh inning for just the second time in nine starts this season.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Pirates: C Francisco Cervelli was out of the lineup for the second straight game. He sat out Tuesday due to flu-like symptoms and was scheduled to have the day off Wednesday.
Brewers: INF Jonathan Villar (lower back strain) and OF Ryan Braun (strained left calf) will begin minor-league rehabilitation assignments Thursday with Class-A Wisconsin. The two will play through the weekend with the Timber Rattlers and potentially could be activated Tuesday before Milwaukee's three-game series in Cincinnati, according to manager Craig Counsell. ... RHP Wily Peralta was placed on the 10-day DL with a right calf strain. LHP Brent Suter was recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs.
UP NEXT
Pirates: RHP Ivan Nova (7-4, 2.91 ERA) will start the series finale on Thursday afternoon. He has pitched at least six innings in each of his first 14 starts. Nova is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two career starts against Milwaukee.
Brewers: RHP Chase Anderson (5-2, 2.92 ERA) will look to continue his run of success, as he is 10-3 with a 2.77 ERA over his last 26 starts dating to July 25, 2016. Anderson had a 2.16 ERA in five starts against Pittsburgh in 2016.
Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter
(© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
