Sunday, August 25, 2002
Pirates 17, Brewers 10
The Associated Press
MILWAUKEE — Pittsburgh and Milwaukee have scored the fewest runs in the National League, but combined for 36 hits Saturday night as the Pirates posted a 17-10 victory over the Brewers.
“This is one of the all-time slugfests for me,” said Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McClendon, whose team improved to 14-4 against the Brewers.
The Brewers have scored the fewest runs in the National League with 506, and Pittsburgh has scored the second fewest at 519. The Pirates came into the game with a major league-worst .241 team average, but set season highs in runs, hits, doubles and extra-base hits. Milwaukee's 20 hits was the most it had this season.
The game never was close, with Pittsburgh taking a 14-3 lead after six innings. Milwaukee did not get within six runs after that.
“We had a pretty big lead,” McClendon said. “But you certainly like to just breeze through, not give up as many hits and runs as we did, and have a big cushion.”
Pittsburgh has won eight of nine at Miller Park, outscoring the Brewers 57-29.
Kip Wells (12-11) gave up three runs in six innings to become Pittsburgh's first 12-game winner in three years. He also had a double and single in the seventh inning, driving in two runs.
“It was a unique situation in that not only were there two teams with 10-plus runs, we had one 30-minute inning where I had to bat twice,” Wells said. “There were a lot of long innings. I always made it a point that every time we scored, to go out there and put up a zero.”
No Pittsburgh pitcher has won as many games since 1999, when Todd Ritchie won 15 and Jason Schmidt won 13.
Jose Cabrera (5-10) gave up 11 runs in 5 1-3 innings. It was the most runs given up by a Brewers pitcher since Paul Wagner gave up 11 against Montreal on July 24, 1998.
“I'm really disappointed because the guys hit tonight,” Cabrera said. “That's when you have to take advantage.”
Craig Wilson drove in four runs, and Jason Kendall and Brian Giles each had three RBIs as Pittsburgh had season highs with nine doubles and 16 hits. It was the Pirates highest scoring game since also scoring 17 against Montreal on May 15, 1999.
Milwaukee had 20 hits — tying the most since they joined the NL in 1998 — but hit into double plays in three consecutive innings to snuff rallies. The Brewers gave up their most runs since Aug. 7, 1998, when they also allowed 17 to Cincinnati.
Despite being outscored 42-16 in four consecutive losses, Milwaukee manager Jerry Royster found something to be positive about.
“I have trouble faulting the guys when they get 20 hits, so it was good to see some of the guys coming out of their slump, even though we took the loss,” Royster said.
Pokey Reese led the game off with a double and Rob Mackowiak was hit by a pitch. They executed a double steal and Kendall doubled them home for a 2-0 lead. Giles followed with a double to score Kendall.
Abraham Nunez scored on Reese's sacrifice fly for a 4-0 lead in the second. Milwaukee made it 4-2 in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI single by Jose Hernandez and a run-scoring groundout by Paul Bako.
The Pirates took a 7-2 lead in the third on Wilson's three-run homer, his 13th. Cabrera has given up 18 homers in 93 innings.
Alex Sanchez's single drove home Hernandez in the fourth to make it 7-3.
Pittsburgh broke the game open in the seventh. Wells and Giles each drove in two runs, and Kendall, Wilson and Armando Rios each drove home one run. It was the most runs scored in an inning this season for the Pirates.
Milwaukee scored three runs in the bottom half on RBI singles by Eric Young and reliever Shane Nance, and Hernandez's run-scoring double. Hernandez had four hits, including two doubles.
Rios hit his first homer of the year in the eighth to make it 15-6. Ryan Thompson hit his fourth homer for the Brewers in the bottom half.
Notes: The Brewers also had 20 hits on May 21, 2000, against San Francisco. ... Sanchez was back in the starting lineup after being benched Friday for sharing a laugh with RF Izzy Alcantara after Alcantara dived and missed a ball for a triple Thursday. ... The Pirates have gone six consecutive games without allowing a stolen base. ... The Brewers purchased Nance's contract from Triple-A Indianapolis. He made his major league debut, and singled home a run in the seventh. C Raul Casanova was designated for assignment to make room on the roster for Nance.
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Pirates 17, Brewers 10
