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Brewers hang on to beat Pirates

Apr 19, 2014 - 5:13 AM Pittsburgh, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Carlos Gomez smacked a solo homer among his two hits and two RBI and the Milwaukee Brewers hung on for a 5-3 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second test of a four-game set.

Andrew McCutchen ripped a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the seventh to trim the gap to 5-3. Pedro Alvarez then had the tying runs on second and third, but took a called strike three on a sweeping slider from Will Smith on the outer half.

Pittsburgh loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth, but Jim Henderson got Starling Marte to pop out to Mark Reynolds at first base. Francisco Rodriguez tossed a scoreless ninth to notch his fifth save of the year.

The game ended with a runner on second base when Neil Walker scorched a liner that popped in and out of Reynolds' glove. The alert Reynolds was able to pluck the ball out of the air with his right hand.

"We just weren't able to get that at bat when we needed it tonight," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.

Milwaukee's Martin Maldonado went 3-for-3, which included a single when he literally hit the cover off the ball.

In the top of the sixth, Maldonado rolled a grounder to third base that bounced to Alvarez with half the cover missing. Alvarez's throw fluttered and didn't make it to first, rolling the last 10 feet or so.

"Goofy stuff happened early, then goofy stuff happened when Maldy (Maldonado) hit the cover off the ball. I've never seen that before. We got a run because of it," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said.

Kyle Lohse (3-1) surrendered three runs -- one earned -- on four hits and three walks over 6 1/3 innings for Milwaukee, which had dropped three of its last four coming in on the heels of a nine-game winning streak.

Charlie Morton (0-2) yielded five runs on eight hits and two walks over six frames for the Pirates, who have lost six of their last eight.

The Pirates led 2-0 after three innings, but Milwaukee plated three in the fourth and a run apiece in the fifth and sixth frames to surge in front.

Ryan Braun smacked a double to right, Aramis Ramirez walked and Khris Davis was hit by a pitch to load the bases in the fourth. Scooter Gennett ripped a double over the head of Jose Tabata in right to bring home Braun and Ramirez. Davis, though, was thrown out at the plate. Maldonado then singled up the middle to plate Gennett and make it 3-2.

Gomez led off the fifth with a mammoth blast to dead center and his RBI base hit in the sixth increased the advantage to 5-2.

Earlier, Russell Martin's RBI groundout in the first and run-scoring single in the third staked Pittsburgh to its 2-0 edge.

Game Notes

Milwaukee was 4-for-6 with runners in scoring position and Pittsburgh finished 3-for-12 ... Gomez has five homers and 12 RBI so far this year.