Pirates 8, Brewers 4: Pittsburgh turns the tables on Milwaukee as Colin Rea is hit hard
After routing the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of the teams' four-game series at American Family Field, the Milwaukee Brewers had the tables turned on them.
Starter Colin Rea allowed six runs over the first two innings and the Pirates slugged four home runs in all – one shy of tying the season high allowed by Milwaukee pitchers – as the Brewers dropped an 8-4 decision on Friday night.
It was a frustrating night for the offense as well, with the Brewers finishing 3 for 11 with runners in scoring position.
Bench coach Pat Murphy was ejected in the sixth inning, apparently for arguing balls and strikes with home-plate umpire Edwin Moscoso.
But there was still a bright side as both the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs also lost, keeping the Brewers in the lead in the National League Central Division standings by a half-game.
Bryan Reynolds and Alfonso Rivas both had shots at hitting the the cycle for the Pirates, but Reynolds flew out to right in his final at-bat and Rivas flew out to left.
A start to forget for Colin Rea
The right-hander probably would have been pushed out of the rotation anyway with the return Sunday of Brandon Woodruff.
But he likely made the decision easier for the Brewers' brass after his performance Friday.
One out away from retiring the side in order in the first, Rea walked Jack Suwinski, then Henry Davis followed with a grounder up the middle that Brice Turang would have fielded only to see the ball strike second base and bounce into short center field.
Rivas then worked a full count before homering to center to give the Pirates the early lead. Rea surrendered another hit and walk after that but finally ended the frame.
After Milwaukee scored a pair in the bottom of the first, Rea gave up three more runs in the second.
A leadoff walk to .000-hitting Vinny Capra started the trouble, and two batters later Reynolds doubled him in. Two batters after that Davis lined a homer to left, and Pittsburgh's lead ballooned to 6-2.
A leadoff infield single by Reynolds to open the fourth gave Pittsburgh eight hits – a new season high allowed by Rea – then he retired the next three batters to put the wraps on his 90-pitch outing.
Rea (5-5) also allowed a season-high six runs to go along with three walks and two strikeouts.
Offense couldn't recapture Thursday's magic
With Quinn Priester and his 9.19 ERA starting for the Pirates, it looked like the Brewers could be in for a repeat of the 14-run outburst they put up on Thursday.
They opened with three hits in three batters and scored two in the opening frame but blew scoring opportunities in the second and fourth.
Milwaukee had runners in scoring position with two outs in the second when William Contreras grounded out, but not managing at least a run in the fourth was much more egregious.
Mark Canha singled for his first Brewers hit to start, then Brian Anderson and Brice Turang walked only to have Joey Wiemer follow by fouling out, Christian Yelich being rung up by Moscoso on a ball that was up and out of the strike zone and Contreras again grounding out.
Santana's leadoff homer in the fifth chased Priester but Milwaukee failed to do any more damage against replacement Yerry De Los Santos.
Canha's third single combined with the Pirates' third defensive miscue accounted for the Brewers' final run crossing the plate in the seventh.
Brewers schedule coming up
Saturday – Pirates at Brewers, 6:10 p.m. Pittsburgh LHP Bailey Falter (0-7, 5.13) vs. Milwaukee RHP Corbin Burnes (9-6, 3.44). TV: Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Pirates 8, Brewers 4: Pittsburgh turns the tables on Milwaukee
