Brewers blank Pirates, who go 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position

When Bryan Reynolds came to bat with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, the Pittsburgh Pirates thought there was a chance for another walk-off win.

Milwaukee Brewers closer Josh Hader already had thrown 31 pitches and just walked Ke’Bryan Hayes on a full count, so there was optimism that Reynolds would win the battle between the All-Stars.

“Anytime we can get runners on in the ninth and it’s a one- or two-run game, one pitch could win it or tie it,” Hayes said. “I feel like we did a good job giving ourselves a chance. We gave ourselves a shot.”

Instead, Hader got Reynolds to swing at a slider and fly out to left field to preserve a 2-0 win and series split for the Brewers on Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 17,578 at PNC Park.

A two-run home run from catcher Omar Narvaez in the fifth inning was the difference for the Brewers, who got six scoreless innings from Brandon Woodruff (7-3) and three more from the bullpen. The Pirates pounded nine hits but stranded 11 runners, going 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position.

“We didn’t capitalize on opportunities,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We saw a pretty good starter and three pretty good bullpen arms. I don’t know if you’re going to see anything better than that. We just couldn’t get the hit that took us over the top.”

With the shutout, the Brewers maintained their first-place lead in the NL Central. The Pirates continued to rearrange their rotation by bringing Zach Thompson off the 15-day injured list to make the start, and the 6-foot-7 right-hander allowed two runs on four hits and one walk in 4 2/3 innings.

The Brewers blew their share of scoring chances early. They had runners on first and third with two outs and Jace Peterson at the plate when Kolten Wong was caught stealing. As Luis Urias took off for second base, catcher Michael Perez pump-faked a throw and turned and fired to Hayes at third. Wong broke for home but Hayes threw it back to Perez, only for Wong to reverse field. Perez threw it to Oneil Cruz, and the 6-foot-7 shortstop opted to end the rundown by chasing Wong down and tagging him out to end the rally.

Cruz turned a double play in the fourth when he fielded a Rowdy Tellez grounder behind second base, tagged the bag to force Willy Adames and threw out Tellez at first. Jack Suwinski then robbed Andrew McCutchen of a hit with a shoestring catch in left field.

The Brewers finally broke the scoreless tie in the fifth, when Wong drew a leadoff walk and Narvaez crushed Thompson’s 0-1 cutter 427 feet over the Clemente Wall in right for his third home run and a 2-0 lead.

“Woodruff’s a great pitcher. You want to last as long as you can because a guy like that is going to compete for a long time,” Thompson said. “So I definitely wanted to make sure that I kept my team in the best I possibly could. Just that one mistake to Narvaez really kind of hosed it a little bit.”

Thompson was replaced with two outs and a runner on first by Duane Underwood Jr. Activated from the covid-19 injured list, Underwood gave up an infield single to Christian Yelich and walked Adames to load the bases but got Tellez to pop out to escape the jam.

The Pirates, meantime, stranded five runners against Woodruff, including three at second base. His exit after allowing six hits without a walk while striking out eight might have presented their best chance to score.

Facing Brad Boxberger in the seventh, Cruz hit a 402-foot fly out to the warning track in left-center, Suwinski drew a walk and Perez singled to left to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. When Tucupita Marcano flew out to right, Hayes came to bat with two outs and runners on first and second, but Boxberger got him looking at a 94-mph fastball for a called third strike.

“We weren’t able to get guys in,” Hayes said. “I feel like the pitching kept us in the game all game and gave us a shot. We just happened to not capitalize.”

Designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach — who went 3 for 4 in his 400th career game — singled on a line drive to right in the eighth but stumbled and fell in the batter’s box. Devin Williams then struck out Reynolds, Michael Chavis and Bligh Madris.

The Pirates tried to rally in the ninth against Brewers closer Josh Hader, who got Cruz looking. After Suwinski doubled to right, pinch hitter Diego Castillo struck out, but the wild pitch skipped past Narvaez. His high throw to first made Tellez jump off the bag, putting Pirates runners on first and second with one out. Pinch hitter Tyler Heineman popped up to Urias for the second out, bringing up Hayes, who worked the walk to load the bases for Reynolds.

“We saw elite pitching,” Shelton said. “You saw a guy in the seventh that’s led the league in saves, a guy in the eighth who was rookie of the year and a guy in the ninth who’s maybe the best closer in baseball, so I think it was a situation where they executed pitches, and we couldn’t get a ball to fall.”