The Milwaukee Brewers lost 2-1 to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, propelling the Pirates back into a three-way tie for third place in the NL Central with the Brewers and Cardinals. That didn’t seem likely after the Pirates’ recent three-game losing streak, but here we are.
Ryan Braun scored the Brewers’ only run with a homer in the first inning. The Giants tied the game in the third with an RBI single by newcomer Jeff Keppinger, then went ahead with a sacrifice fly by Mike Fontenot in the fourth. Madison Bumgarner went 7.2 innings for the Giants, striking out eight.
The Pirates begin a very tough road series against the Atlanta Braves Monday, while the Cardinals begin a homer series against NL Central doormat Houston. The Brewers have the day off, then begin a series against a bad Cubs team. So the Pirates will need to be at their best in the next few days.
With the score tied 3-3, Paul reached base on an infield single, stole second, advanced to third on an error, and came home on a sacrifice fly by Chase D'Arnaud.
The victory pulled the Pirates even with the Cardinals for second place in the NL Central. Both teams are a half game behind the Milwaukee Brewers.
Charlie Morton walked five batters in 5.1 innings, but managed to escape with only three runs allowed. He got help from new Pirate Jason Grilli, who took over with two men on in the sixth and registered a strikeout and a groundout to leave them stranded. The Bucs' relievers managed 4.2 scoreless innings in total.
