MILWAUKEE (AP) — Joey Ortiz homered twice and Caleb Durbin added a three-run shot as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-3 on Tuesday night.
Durbin and Ortiz — the last two hitters in Milwaukee’s lineup — went a combined 4 of 8 with four runs and seven RBIs. They hit back-to-back homers off Andrew Heaney with two outs in the fourth inning to extend the Brewers’ lead to 6-0.
Ortiz also broke a scoreless tie with a two-run blast in the third as the Brewers won for the fifth time in six games. Ortiz has gone 12 of 26 over his last six games, raising his batting average from .188 to .217 and improving his OPS from .506 to .572.
Pittsburgh’s Nick Gonzales hit a three-run homer one night after going 5 for 5 in a 5-4 victory over the Brewers. The homer was his third of the season.
Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta (8-4) held Pittsburgh scoreless until he ended his night by allowing two singles and Gonzales’ homer to start the sixth inning. Peralta struck out eight and yielded seven hits and no walks.
Heaney (3-7) struck out three and allowed seven runs, three walks and seven hits in four innings.
Key moment
The Pirates failed to break a scoreless tie in the second inning despite loading the bases with nobody out on consecutive singles by Spencer Horwitz, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Adam Frazier. Horwitz was forced out at home when Henry Davis hit into a 5-2 fielder’s choice. After Peralta struck out Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Brewers left fielder Isaac Collins ended the threat by making a sliding catch on a fly ball from Oneil Cruz.
Key stat
The two homers by Ortiz doubled his season total to four. His last homer before Tuesday came on May 22, also against the Pirates.
Up next
This series closes Wednesday afternoon with Paul Skenes (4-6, 1.86 ERA) pitching for Pittsburgh and Jacob Misiorowski (2-0, 1.64) starting for Milwaukee in a highly anticipated matchup of flamethrowing right-handers.
