Brent Suter – File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
The Milwaukee Brewers rebounded from a shutout loss to Pittsburgh on Monday by beating the Pirates 5-2 on Tuesday night at Miller Park.
Manager Craig Counsell used a total of seven pitchers with starter Brent Suter giving the Brewers just three innings. The bullpen responded with six scoreless frames to pull out the victory.
Jeremy Jeffress followed Suter, then it was Oliver Drake, Jared Hughes, Anthony Swarzak, Josh Hader and Corey Knebel to finish it out. Knebel registered two more strikeouts and notched his 35th save of the season.
The Brewers offense got to Pirates right hander Gerrit Cole for five early runs, including a four-run third inning.
Domingo Santana and Eric Thames both drove in a pair of runs, with Thames clubbing his 29th home run of the season. It tied Travis Shaw for the team lead.
The Brewers kept pace with the Cubs and Cardinals, who also won last night. The Brewers remain in third place in the National League Central, a half game behind the 2nd place Cardinals and 2 1/2 games behind the front running Cubs.
Chase Anderson will pitch the series finale for the Brewers tonight, on short rest. The Brewers will have to do some shuffling with Jimmy Nelson lost for the rest of the season.
AUDIO: Craig Counsell on his bullpen :20
AUDIO: Brent Suter says it was a great all around effort :16
AUDIO: Brent Suter asked if the Brewers can make the playoffs with this rotation :08