Brewers 4, Pirates 1: Second half off to good start

Win: Fiers (5-7)
Loss: Morton (6-3)
Save: Rodriguez (20)

HR: Kang (5)

Boxscore

The Brewers are off to a good start in the unofficial second half of the season. In their first game back from the All Star break, Milwaukee beat a Pirates team that had been one of the hottest teams in the league.

Mike Fiers was absolutely fantastic for the Brewers, tossing seven innings of three hit ball. He struck out seven batters over that time while walking just one. The only Pirates run to come against him was a Jung Ho Kang solo home run in the seventh inning. Over his last 13 starts, Fiers now has a 3.14 ERA. Not too shabby.

The Brewers jumped on the board early, striking for their first run in the opening frame. Gerardo Parra led off the bottom of the first with a double, then was bunted to third by Jonathan Lucroy. Because, you know, a runner on second with no outs in the very first inning calls for a sacrifice bunt by one of the best hitters on the team. Regardless, it helped get a run as Ryan Braun grounded out to bring home Parra.

Milwaukee got their second run in the fifth when Scooter Gennett was hit by a pitch, then scored on a Parra double. Then, in the seventh, Gennett and Shane Peterson led off with back-to-back singles and a Pedro Alvarez error and Jonathan Lucroy double-play ball allowed both to eventually score.

Scooter Gennett was 1-1 today with two walks while Parra picked up two hits with a run and RBI. Carlos Gomez also walked twice and between the two teams, five batters were hit by pitches.

Those struck batters could be a story the rest of the series. Game two is tomorrow at 6:10 CT.