MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kyle Harrison struck out the final eight batters he faced, William Contreras homered and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2 on Wednesday night.
Harrison (9-2) gave up one hit and one walk while striking out 10 in five innings in his first start since July 8 after an IL stint due to left forearm tightness. It was the fourth time this season and sixth time in his career he reached double digit strikeouts.
Harrison took the mound to warm up for the sixth, but abruptly left before the inning began. Milwaukee later said he had cramps in both calves. He had the second-longest strikeout streak in Brewers history behind Corbin Burnes, who tied the major league record with 10 straight in 2021.
Abner Uribe retired all three batters faced in the eighth inning, and Trevor Megill earned his 20th save with a perfect ninth.
One day after being booed by his team’s fans, Christian Yelich delivered an RBI double in the fourth inning to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead. Andrew Vaughn immediately added a single to right field, which sent both Yelich and William Contreras home.
They were Milwaukee’s only two hits off Paul Skenes (9-10), who issued a leadoff walk to Brice Turang in the first before retiring 10 in a row. Lake Bachar, who replaced Skenes at the start of the sixth, gave up a solo home run to Contreras that put the Brewers ahead 4-0.
Endy Rodriguez hit a two-run home run in the seventh to pull the Pirates to 4-2.
Up next
Dustin May (5-7, 4.38 ERA) was set to make his first start as a Brewer on Thursday, facing Braxton Ashcraft (11-4, 3.96 ERA) in the series finale.
