The Pirates took an early lead, fell behind quickly, tied it up late and lost it in regulation.
The Bucco offense plated two in the first in support of Jeff Karstens. It might’ve been more, but Freddy Sanchez was thrown out at home on a single from Adam LaRoche.
But, Karstens quickly allowed the Beer Makers to take the lead. Solo homers in the first (Ryan Braun) and third (Mike Cameron) formed the bread of a three run homer sandwich that came in the second off the bat of Rickie Weeks.
The Pirates eeked back into it with an RBI from Eric Hinske in the fifth and a game tying two run double from Freddy Sanchez with two out in the 8th.
But the wheels came off the bullpen in the 8th. Tyler Yates walked Bill Hall to start then inning, then plunked Jason Kendall (his second HBP of the game). Craig Counsell (from Notre Dame) delivered a sac bunt and the go ahead run scored on a fielder’s choice grounder from Weeks. John Grabow relieved Yates and gave up a two run double to Corey Hart. All told, Milwaukee tallied five times in the 8th to put the game away.
Todd Coffey was the winner, having recorded the last out in the top of the 8th.
The Good
No complaints about the offense. 11 hits and four walks would be enough to win most games.
Nyjer Morgan had two singles and a walk and scored three times.
The Bad
Karstens was uneven. He allowed five hits and five runs in five innings and all five hits were for extra bases – three dingers, a double and a triple. It could’ve been worse, actually
The bullpen imploded in the 8th.
Pirate pitchers walked 8 Brewer hitters.
The Rest
Trevor Hoffman finished the game for Milwaukee, making his 2009 debut. Last time he pitched for a team other than San Diego was 6/22/93. I was heading into my final year of college.
This was the 10th time in his career that Kendall was HBP twice in the same game. Last time was 7/17/05 when he was with Oakland.
