×

Brewer rookie stops Pirates

PITTSBURGH — The nerves weren’t quite so bad this time. The jitters, a touch less. The stuff? Well, that didn’t change a bit for Milwaukee rookie pitcher Freddy Peralta. The 22-year-old handcuffed the Pittsburgh Pirates over six shutout innings and the Brewers held on for a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night.

Peralta (2-0) struck out seven without issuing a walk in his third career start, looking very much like the kid who tied a franchise record by striking out 13 in his major league debut last month. The Brewers sent him down to the minors after his second start to work on his control and he appeared to be firmly in command against the Pirates.

“It was normal, you know,” Peralta said. “It’s always, work, you know? I was comfortable today with everything: my pitches, the guys behind me, everything.”

Jesus Aguilar finished 2 for 3 and drove in all three runs off Jameson Taillon (4-6). Aguilar hit a two-run shot to the seats in right-center in the first and doubled down the line in left field in the third.

Corey Knebel worked around a two-out walk in the ninth for his seventh save for the first-place Brewers, who ended a three-game losing streak.

Starling Marte hit his ninth home run of the season in the eighth off Milwaukee reliever Jeremy Jeffress to pull Pittsburgh with one. Jordy Mercer had an RBI double in the seventh but Pittsburgh’s offense mustered little with Peralta on the mound.

The 22-year-old attacked the Pirates high in the strike zone and threw 62 of his 99 pitches for strikes. Only Marte seemed able to generate solid contact. He reached second in the first when Milwaukee right fielder Eric Thames couldn’t handle a drive that bounced off his glove near the wall.

“He made pitches,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “Kept us off balance with the curveball. Attacked. Very aggressive. Good downhill angle from a guy who’s not tall in stature. He pitched a lot taller than he was height-wise, and got after it.”

Taillon, coming off a solid outing in a win in Arizona last week, had plenty of swing-and-miss stuff — he recorded seven strikeouts in five innings — but had no answer for Aguilar. Lorenzo Cain led off the game with an infield single and two batters later Aguilar put one in the seats to put Milwaukee up 2-0.

A nearly identical sequence happened in the third. Cain reached on an infield hit and Aguilar laced the ball to left with Cain easily beating the throw home.

“Both times hanging breaking balls to Aguilar after an infield hit, he did what he should have done with them,” Taillon said.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
     

Starting at $4.85/week.

Subscribe Today