MILWAUKEE _ Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Matt Garza punched his mitt and howled at the night sky above Miller Park. Jordy Mercer had parked a sixth-inning grand slam in the Brewers bullpen, a two-strike slider swatted just beyond left fielder Ryan Braun's reach at the wall.
Mercer's first career grand slam cracked open a close game, the turning point in a 5-3 Pirates win Friday in Milwaukee.
The Pirates (65-61) have taken the first two games of the series, improving to 19-64 at Miller Park since 2007. They remain 2{ games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the wild-card chase.
Garza's belief he could sneak an 0-2 slider past Mercer stemmed from their shared, head-to-head history. Mercer, 1-for-12 against Garza before the homer, struck out in his first two at-bats Friday. In the sixth, he watched a slider for a strike and then fouled off two fastballs and a slider.
The last slider spiraled at knee level. Mercer leaned forward and lifted it deep to left. He was already around first base, nearly even with Francisco Cervelli, by the time he realized it had cleared the wall. He slowed, circled the bases and clapped as he approached home plate.
Mercer's 10th home run this season put an exclamation point on the Pirates' five-run sixth, but it would not have happened without two helpful errors from Brewers third baseman Jonathan Villar.
Through five innings, the starting pitchers matched zeroes, allowing three hits and no runs. The difference-maker was Villar. One of the speediest men in baseball, Villar has been atrocious defensively, entering the game with 22 errors this season. When Andrew McCutchen hit a chopper on the infield grass leading off the sixth, Villar bobbled the baseball, then dropped it.
On the next play, Gregory Polanco rolled a tailor-made double-play grounder to Villar, who sent his throw flying into shallow right field. McCutchen scampered to third, and Starling Marte scored him by stinging an RBI double down the left-field line, breaking the scoreless deadlock.
The Brewers elected to intentionally walk Francisco Cervelli, and Mercer made them pay.
Garza (4-6), lifted for former Pirates right-hander Rob Scahill, was charged with five runs, none earned. The 11-year major league veteran struck out a season-high nine batters.
The Pirates arrived in Milwaukee in search of a string of victories. In the series opener Thursday, they needed 10 innings to knock off the Brewers, 3-2, snapping a nine-game losing streak at Miller Park. The result Friday night represented the start of a small winning streak.
Right-hander Ryan Vogelsong (3-3) turned in another strong effort, continuing to prove the Pirates right for plugging him into the rotation when he returned from the 60-day disabled list earlier this month. In 51/3 innings of two-run baseball, he allowed four hits and four walks, striking out six.
Vogelsong's line looked cleaner before he walked Chris Carter leading off in the sixth and served up a ground-rule double to Keon Broxton with one out. Manager Clint Hurdle called on right-hander Jared Hughes, and the reliever's first pitch, a sinker on the inside edge, was belted by rookie Orlando Arcia for a three-run homer. The blast was Arcia's first major league homer.
The rest of the Pirates bullpen, plus a run-saving diving catch from Polanco, secured the win. Felipe Rivero owned the seventh, Neftali Feliz the eighth and Tony Watson the ninth for his ninth save.
