MILWAUKEE _ It was an appropriate and painful way for the Pirates to cruise into the midway point of their season, with their bullpen blowing a late lead despite the Brewers literally giving them free pass after free pass toward a win.
In fact, they didn't really cruise into the midpoint of the season. They sort of drove directly into a pothole, as Richard Rodriguez gave up a walk-off home run to Eric Sogard in the bottom of the ninth inning to produce a 7-6 Brewers victory Saturday at Miller Park.
An inning earlier, Josh Hader had faced six Pirates hitters, walked five, and flipped a one-run lead into a one-run deficit. It appeared the Pirates might actually win the game after Nik Turley coughed up the lead in the eighth inning.
But once again, the Pirates (9-21) showed that no lead is safe, especially with them, and it hurt even more that it came off Rodriguez, a potential trade chip for them.
Turley allowed a double to Christian Yelich and hit Keston Hiura to start the eighth, then struck out Jedd Gyorko and got Ryan Braun to pop up to Adam Frazier. A Houdini-like escape of his own mess was oh-so-close before Avisail Garcia drilled a two-run double down the left-field line.
Hader's struggles were completely out of left field. Through nine appearances, he had not allowed a run or a hit. But he was unable to find the strike zone or anything close to it.
Big-picture-wise, JT Brubaker's start was encouraging for the Pirates. After allowing two runs in four-plus innings of a no-decision this past Sunday, the right-hander worked five innings and allowed two earned runs on three hits with three walks and six strikeouts.
He gave up a long home run to Yelich in the first inning and sprayed the ball a little in the second, taking his pitch count to 45 after two, but was able to settle down quickly.
Brubaker retired nine of the final 10 men he faced, the lone exception being a one-out walk to first baseman Justin Smoak in the third. The final three outs Brubaker got came on successive strikeouts of Luis Urias, Yelich and Hiura.
With the score tied at 2, the Pirates rallied in the fifth inning, as Erik Gonzalez led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly from Kevin Newman.
On the next pitch, Josh Bell cranked a hanging curveball from Brewers starter Brett Anderson over the fence in center, extending the Pirates' lead to 4-2. It was the third homer of the season for Bell and his first since Aug. 5.
There have been signs for a couple games now that Bell is in a different place with his swing. Not only has he hit some balls hard that have been right at people, but he's been chasing a lot less. Those ugly at-bats have been rare.
After two hits Friday, there's no doubt this one had to feel good for Bell, who entered the game with a slash line of just .204/.257/.282.
Bell's sacrifice fly in the first gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead before Yelich's blast, as he absolutely crushed a low-and-inside sinker from Brubaker.
Yelich, who had been 1 for 25 against the Pirates this season, put this one in the third deck in right field, the ball traveling an estimated 460 feet with an exit velocity of 112 mph.
Brubaker encountered some control trouble in the second inning, as he walked two, including Urias to score a run and push Milwaukee in front, 2-1.
The Pirates tied the score in the top of the third when Cole Tucker led off with a single, moved to third on a pair of groundouts to second and scored on a double from Jacob Stallings.
Those connecting for a run was somewhat ironic given the fact that they've been two of the Pirates' hottest hitters of late. Tucker's single was his 12th hit in his past 32 at-bats (.375).
Stallings, meanwhile, came into the game with an on-base percentage of .397, best among National League catchers, while his batting average (.323) ranks second.
