The Pirates bullpen faltered in the worst possible way. The bullpen blew a lead of two runs in the 8th only to watch the offense put one on the board in the bottom half. But that skinny margin heading into the 9th wasn’t enough as Matt Capps allowed a three run homer to Rickie Weeks that broke a 4-4 tie.
Paul Maholm had allowed just one run through seven. After giving up a one out walk in the 8th he was pulled. One out later, the Brewers rallied against John Grabow with a two run double from Ryan Braun tying the game.
The Pirates came up with a clutch hit of their own with Jason Jaramillo doubling in Ramon Vazquez in the home half of the 8th.
But that wasn’t enough for Capps. He loaded the bases with a single and a couple of walks before allowing the tying run to score on a sac fly from Notre Dame’s Craig Counsell. Weeks followed with his game winning tater.
The Good
Maholm was sharp again. He struck out seven and walked one while giving up five singles and a double.
Speaking of doubles, Freddy Sanchez added two more to his season’s total – 12.
Andy LaRoche hit his first homer of the year.
Nate McLouth had three hits.
The pitching staff reached a season high with 10 whiffs.
The Pirates scored off of Yovani Gallardo.
The Bad
The Pirates to longest standing bullpen stalwarts both failed.
The Rest
This was the first time that Capps allowed four earned runs in one appearance. The only time he allowed four runs was 9/6/06 when the Cubs notched four runs (but just three earned) off of him.
Capps’ last blown save at PNC was 6/10/08 when Lastings Milledge hit a two run, two out homer to win it for Washington.
