MILWAUKEE _ Even in a rebuilding year, the Milwaukee Brewers have not forgotten how to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, particularly at home.
The Brewers finished a three-game sweep of their division rivals Sunday afternoon with a 4-2 victory at Miller Park, undeterred as catcher Jonathan Lucroy sat out again to await his trade fate and left fielder Ryan Braun remained idle with side tightness.
The triumph gave the Brewers a 103-56 record against the Pirates since 2007, including a 64-17 mark at home.
There was a compelling moment in bottom of eighth when Lucroy, who earlier in the day vetoed a trade to Cleveland but still might get dealt somewhere, was sent to the plate by manager Craig Counsell as a pinch-hitter. Lucroy received a standing ovation and cheers of "Luuucccc!" from the crowd of 32,405, tipping his helmet before stepping into the box. He would later fly out to right field.
The Brewers struck for a run after Pirates starter Francisco Liriano retired the first two batters in the bottom of the first inning. Hernan Perez continued his offensive surge with a single to left, then stole second and came all the way around to score when catcher Eric Fryer's throw bounded into right-center.
A walk to Chris Carter, single by Scooter Gennett and another walk to Martin Maldonado loaded the bases but Liriano stopped it there by striking out Kirk Nieuwenhuis.
Keon Broxton, getting regular starts in center field during his fourth stint with the Brewers this season to see what he can do, made it a 2-0 game in the second with one swing of the bat, ripping a home run to center.
Pittsburgh right fielder Gregory Polanco responded in kind in the top of the third, sending a 1-2 pitch from Matt Garza over the fence in right field for his 15th homer of the season and second in two games against the Brewers.
The Brewers came back with another run to go up, 3-1, in the bottom of the inning and had a chance to do more damage. Perez led off with a bunt single, Carter drew his second walk and Gennett chipped in with his second single to load the bases with no outs.
Maldonado grounded into a double play to knock down a possible big inning and the Brewers had to settle for Perez scoring on the play.
Jordy Mercer led off the Pittsburgh fifth with a single to center and raced to third when Perez threw away a grounder by Fryer, putting runners on the corners with no outs. Garza struck out Liriano but Mercer scored on a force-out grounder by John Jaso to cut the Brewers' led to 3-2.
Carter restored the two-run lead in the fifth by belting a two-out homer to center, his 24th of the season and 18th at home.
Garza departed after the fifth, having allowed four hits and only one earned run with a walk and five strikeouts. He had been 0-4 with a 7.52 ERA in July before taking a significant step forward in this outing.
The Brewers' well-used and efficient bullpen took over at that point, with Corey Knebel, Carlos Torres, Will Smith and Jeremy Jeffress each going an inning. Working his fourth consecutive day, Jeffress recorded his 27th save in 28 chances.
