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W: Edinson Volquez (1-0)
L: Rob Wooten (0-1)
MVP: Josh Harrison (.272)
LVP: Rob Wooten (-.379)
The Brewers' and Pirates' usual suspects sparred in the early frames: Aramis Ramirez' RISP hitting frenzy continued with a 2-out single in the top of the 1st; Andrew McCutchen countered with a towering 2-run blast in the bottom of the inning, and Jonathan Lucroy tied it up in the 3rd with another 2-out RBI single.
Edinson Volquez held his own with a dizzying array of breaking balls, scattering 8 hits and a walk over 7 innings. Gallardo worked his keister off through 6 agonizing innings, allowing nothing in the run column after the McCutchen homerun despite 3 more hits, 4 walks, and 114 total pitches.
The tension finally broke in the 7th when Josh Harrison tagged Rob Wooten for a 2-run homer, and the Pirates added one more on a fielder's choice to make it a three-run lead. The Pirates took an absolutely sterling step toward getting their Taiwanese left-handed youngster back, tagging Wei-Chung Wang for a whole bunch of runs in the 8th inning. Six not-cheap-at-all runs, including two homers. Hopefully the Brewers don't fall for it. Not yet, anyway. Kid's got to build character. Moral victory, folks. Moral victory.
Let's face it: the Brewers were due for one like this. I think Ron Roenicke may have missed trusty Brandon Kintzler tonight.
The Brewers will try to bounce back and hack at Charlie Morton tomorrow behind Kyle Lohse. Game time is 6:05.