Wily Peralta started fast, then the roof caved in. The Pittsburgh started their comeback in the fourth and when the dust settled, the Milwaukee Brewers fell to the Pirates 10-2 at Miller Park.
Pedro Alvarez homered twice off Peralta in consecutive innings, a three run shot in the fourth and a solo drive in the fifth, sending Peralta (15-8) to his 8th loss of the season. Peralta remains tied for the major league lead in wins. He gave up eight runs, seven earned, over his final 1 2/3 innings.
Russell Martin also clubbed a three-run homer off of Peralta.
Pirates starter Edinson Volquez (11-7), worked out of james in almost every inning to improve to 3-0 in five August starts. Volquez allowed 11 hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings, but held the Brewers to two runs.
It’s the third straight win for the Pirates. If they pull off a sweep of the Brewers today, then can climb to within 3-games of Milwaukee in the standings. Pittsburgh is currently just 1 1/2 games behind the San Francisco Giants for the second wildcard spot in the National League.
The Brewers got a second inning home run from Scooter Gennett, his 9th of the season. But their lead over the Cardinals atop the Central Division is now down to just 1/2 game.
The Brewers do have Mike Fiers going in the series finale today. Fiers has won all three of his starts for the Brewers this month. In fact, as a starter in August, Fiers is 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA and has 25 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched.