Christian Yelich’s two home runs leads Brewers to an 8-5 rain-delayed win

Box Score

It was a dreary evening in Pittsburgh, but the weather held up enough for the Brewers and Pirates to start play tonight. The Brewers took advantage of a favorable pitching matchup and backed returning starter Aaron Civale. While the rain dampened spirits in the middle of the game, the Brewers endured and took an 8-5 win.

The Brewers would make sure Civale had a lead to work with tonight. After Brice Turang struck out against Mike Burrows to start the day, Jackson Chourio showed some patience as he drew a walk on six pitches. William Contreras followed it up with a single to give the Brewers their first scoring chance of the day. Christian Yelich was up next, and he hit a fly ball that initially looked like it would be a routine out. However, the ball kept carrying, and it barely cleared the left field fence and was a little too high for Tommy Pham to catch. It took a few seconds for the home run call to be made, and the Brewers had a 3-0 lead.

Civale needed that cushion as his day started shaky. He allowed the first three batters he faced to reach base: Oneil Cruz walked, Andrew McCutchen singled, and Bryan Reynolds was hit by a pitch. The defense backed Civale as Joey Bart hit into a double play, but the Pirates got a run in. Civale was back on track against Spencer Horowitz, striking him out to end the inning.

Burrows appeared to settle down in the second and got the first two batters out. However, Joey Ortiz got the run back. He also hit a ball down the left field line, but there was no question if his would get out. It just needed to stay fair, and it did. The Brewers’ lead was back to three runs at 4-1.

Civale worked through a clean second inning (partially thanks to a nice play from William Contreras) to keep it at 4-1. A leadoff single in the third by Chourio didn’t go anywhere after Yelich grounded into a double play. The Pirates had another scoring chance in the third, putting runners at second and third with a McCutchen walk and Reynolds double. They would be stranded as Bart struck out to end the inning.

Civale would pitch one more inning, come back out for the fourth. He got into trouble again by allowing a Horwitz home run to start the inning. Ke’Bryan Hayes followed that up with a single back to the mound, bringing the tying run to the plate. Civale kept him there, getting two pop outs and a fly out to end the inning. That ended Civale’s day, as he pitched four innings and allowed the two runs on 73 pitches. He also allowed four hits and two walks while striking out three.

Manager Pat Murphy went to Rob Zastryzny first, likely to play the matchups. He would get a Cruz lineout and McCutchen pop out before walking Reynolds. Murphy switched to Carlos Rodriguez, who was expected to pitch and take multiple innings. It didn’t start well for him as he allowed singles to Bart and Horwitz, loading the bases. However, none scored as a Hayes pop out ended the inning.

The Pirates switched pitchers here, bringing in Isaac Mattson to relieve Burrows. After Contreras grounded out, Yelich was up again. He hammered the third pitch he saw, a changeup down the middle, out to right center. It was his second home run of the day and first multi-home run game since September 2023. It also boosted the Brewers’ lead to 5-2.

Rodriguez returned for the sixth inning and the weather didn’t hold any longer as the rain began to pick up. The inning started well with a line out and strikeout. From there, he allowed a double to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, which deflected off Caleb Durbin’s glove (and might have been tougher with the falling rain). Cruz followed that with a deep ball to center that hit off the wall, closing the gap to 5-3. A passed ball let Cruz reach third, and then McCutchen drew a walk on four straight balls. The game was delayed there with the rain getting stronger.

The delay officially lasted an hour and 50 minutes, and when the teams returned to the field, Rodriguez remained on the mound. It was a surprising move for the Brewers, but it worked out. He worked Reynolds to a full count before striking him out on a foul tip, preserving the 5-3 lead.

As for the Brewers’ offense, they came out and tried to put together some insurance runs. Back-to-back singles from Frelick and Durbin put runners at first and second, and Ortiz moved them up with a sacrifice bunt. Turang went for the squeeze play to bring in a run after that. He popped up the bunt, and Bart quickly got to his feet and caught the ball in the air. Durbin was halfway to third and ended up being an easy out as Bart threw to second, ending the inning.

Rodriguez kept going through the seventh with a clean inning, giving the Brewers another chance to add on in the eighth. They had another runner in scoring position right away with a leadoff double from Chourio. After Contreras grounded out, the Pirates intentionally walked Yelich to set up the double play. Hoskins flew out for the second out, but Isaac Collins got some insurance with a single. Chourio scored and Yelich went to third, increasing the lead to 6-3.

Collins didn’t stop there as he stole second with Frelick at the plate. That would provide more insurance as Frelick singled to right. Both Yelich and Collins scored, and the Brewers had an 8-3 lead after eight innings.

Rodriguez worked around a walk in the bottom of the eighth with the help of a double play to keep the Pirates in check. After the top of the ninth went quietly for the Brewers, Rodriguez came out to try and finish the game. It was an inning too long for him, though. Back-to-back walks of Cruz and McCutchen started the inning. Reynolds brought in Cruz with a deep double to center that hit off the wall, and that ended Rodriguez’s day. He saved most of the bullpen with 3 1⁄3 innings pitched, but it was not a pretty line. He allowed three runs, five hits, and four walks, while striking out two batters. He also earned his first career major league win.

Megill entered the game for the fourth time in the last five games. It was a save situation since the tying run was in the on-deck circle. He got Bart to strike out for the first out of the inning. Horwitz grounded out for the second out, but did push the Pirates a little closer as McCutchen scored. That was it for the Pirates. Megill got Hayes to line out to Turang to end the game.

Yelich led the offense with two hits and a walk, scoring three runs and driving in four. Chourio also reached base three times with two hits and a walk, and Frelick added another two hits. Most of the offense was involved in the game, with just Turang and Hoskins having hitless days.

It should be a drier day in Pittsburgh tomorrow as the series continues. Freddy Peralta will start for the Brewers, while Paul Skenes starts for the Pirates. First pitch is set for 5:40 p.m. CT, and it will be on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.

Christian Yelich’s two home runs leads Brewers to an 8-5 rain-delayed win

Tags: