The Pittsburgh Pirates dropped a 5-2 decision to the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night at PNC Park, slipping to 64-78 on the year. Milwaukee struck first with a run in the opening frame and never trailed, improving to 87-55 overall and 41-29 away from home in the process.
Righthander Johan Oviedo delivered one of his best outings since returning from Tommy John surgery, firing five innings while yielding just one unearned run and a lone hit. He walked three and struck out four across 78 pitches, lowering his ERA to 2.70 and demonstrating crisp command of both his fastball and slider.
Offensively, Pittsburgh managed only six hits. Oneil Cruz snapped the scoreless tie with an RBI single in the second inning, and Tommy Pham followed with a run-scoring double in the third, but the lineup went cold thereafter. The Buccos also committed three errors, allowing Milwaukee to convert on a miscue and drive in the lone unearned run.
The Brewers extended their lead in the sixth when Jake Bauers ripped a two-run single off reliever Carmen Mlodzinski, and they tacked on insurance tallies courtesy of Brice Turang in the eighth and Andrew Vaughn in the ninth. Abner Uribe closed out the perfect ninth for his fifth save, snapping the Pirates’ seven-game home winning streak and boosting Milwaukee to 31-11 in their last 42 road contests.
Saturday’s series finale features a National League Central duel on the bump. The Brewers will send right-hander Brandon Woodruff (5-2, 3.69 ERA) against Pittsburgh’s Mitch Keller (6-13, 4.21 ERA), with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET at PNC Park