Jacob Misiorowski tossed five scoreless innings, and Joey Ortiz collected three hits and two RBIs as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the host Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 on Tuesday night.
The Brewers (94-57) won for the sixth time in seven games and inched closer to securing the National League Central division title. Milwaukee can clinch with either a loss by the Chicago Cubs, who played late Tuesday, or a Brewers win Wednesday against the Pirates (75-76), who lost for the third time in four games.
Misiorowski (15-5) lowered his ERA to 1.89 and continued to bolster his case for this year’s NL Cy Young Award by striking out seven and walking one batter while allowing five hits on 82 pitches.
The Brewers broke the game open with four runs in the sixth inning off Pirates reliever Gregory Soto. Bryce Turang walked and William Contreras doubled to put runners on second and third to lead off the frame. After striking out Jake Bauers, Soto issued a walk to Christian Yelich, with ball four a wild pitch that allowed Turang to score.
Luis Lara then doubled to drive in another run and force Soto from the game. Ortiz delivered a two-run single off reliever Wilber Dotel to put Milwaukee ahead 5-0.
Bauers singled in the second inning and came around to score the Brewers’ first run after a ground out by Yelich, a wild pitch by Pirates starter Lake Bachar (1-4) and a sacrifice fly by Lara. Bachar, used as an opener, allowed one run on three hits and two walks while striking out one in two innings.
A baserunning mistake in the fourth spoiled the Pirates’ best chance to score on Misiorowski. Nick Gonzales and Ryan O’Hearn each singled with one out. Rafael Flores Jr. then singled through the hole at short, but Gonzales stayed at third and O’Hearn was thrown out after running past second base for the second out. Spencer Horwitz then flied out to end the inning.
Flores Jr. led the Pirates with a career-high four hits. The catcher also caught two attempted basestealers.
Brandon Lowe blasted a solo homer in the eighth off DL Hall for Pittsburgh’s lone run. In doing so, Lowe became the first Pirate with a 30-homer season since Josh Bell in 2019. The home run was Pittsburgh’s 171st of the season, which matched a franchise single-season record also set by the 1999 club.
