GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NL: MILWAUKEE (73-69) at PITTSBURGH (63-80)

NL: MILWAUKEE at PITTSBURGH

<div class="pre">NL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
MILWAUKEE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
PITTSBURGH 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 1 x 9 15 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: MIL - CARLOS VILLANUEVA, MATT WISE (6TH), BRIAN SHOUSE (6TH), SETH
MCCLUNG (7TH), GREG AQUINO (8TH) AND JOHNNY ESTRADA

PIT - TONY ARMAS, FRANQUELIS OSORIA (7TH), ROMULO
SANCHEZ (9TH) AND RONNY PAULINO


WP - TONY ARMAS (4-5)
LP - CARLOS VILLANUEVA (7-4)
SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS: MIL - NONE

PIT - NATE MCLOUTH (12) OFF CARLOS VILLANUEVA IN THE 5TH, 1 ON


TIME: 2:18 ATT: 13,683

PROBABLES: MIL - YOVANI GALLARDO (7-4, 4.27)
PIT - BRYAN BULLINGTON (0-1, 15.00)</div>

 

NL: MILWAUKEE at PITTSBURGH

<div class="pre">MILWAUKEE (0) VS PITTSBURGH (9) - FINAL

MILWAUKEE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
R Weeks 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 .232
G Gross rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 .245
R Braun 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .325
P Fielder 1b 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .288
C Hart cf 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 .295
G Jenkins lf 3 0 0 0 0 1 3 .264
J Estrada c 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 .282
J Hardy ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 .275
C Villanueva p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .111
a-L Nix ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M Wise p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
B Shouse p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
S McClung p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-B Hall ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .259
G Aquino p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Totals 30 0 4 0 0 4 8

a-grounded to first for C Villanueva in the 6th; b-struck out swinging for S
Mcclung in the 8th.

BATTING: Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Hardy 1. GIDP - J Hardy.
Team LOB - 3.

FIELDING: E - R Weeks (12, throw). DP: 1 (J Hardy-R Weeks-P Fielder).


PITTSBURGH ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
N Morgan cf 5 1 1 0 0 1 1 .257
N McLouth lf 5 3 3 2 0 1 0 .250
F Sanchez 2b 5 1 1 0 0 2 1 .313
A LaRoche 1b 5 1 3 2 0 1 0 .272
J Bautista 3b 3 1 2 0 1 1 2 .262
S Pearce rf 4 1 2 1 0 1 2 .313
R Paulino c 2 1 2 1 2 0 0 .261
J Wilson ss 3 0 1 1 0 0 5 .289
T Armas p 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .120
a-J Phelps ph 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 .381
F Osoria p 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000
R Sanchez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Totals 36 9 15 8 3 9 13

a-grounded into fielder's choice to third for T Armas in the 6th.

BATTING: 2B - S Pearce (3, C Villanueva); N Morgan (2, C Villanueva); R Paulino
(24, S McClung); N McLouth (19, G Aquino); A LaRoche (34, G Aquino). HR - N
Mclouth (12, 5th inning off C Villanueva 1 on, 1 Out). SF - J Wilson. RBI - N
McLouth 2 (31), J Phelps (16), A LaRoche 2 (84), S Pearce (3), R Paulino (48),
J Wilson (52). 2-out RBI - A LaRoche. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out -
J Wilson 3, F Osoria 1, N Morgan 1. GIDP - S Pearce. Team LOB - 7.

BASERUNNING: SB - N McLouth (18, 2nd base off B Shouse/J Estrada).

FIELDING: DP: 1 (J Wilson-A LaRoche).


----------------------------------------------------
MILWAUKEE - 000 000 000 -- 0
PITTSBURGH - 000 022 41x -- 9
----------------------------------------------------

MILWAUKEE ip h r er bb so hr era
C Villanueva (L, 7-4) 5 5 2 2 3 4 1 4.42
M Wise 2/3 3 2 1 0 1 0 3.74
B Shouse 1/3 3 3 3 0 1 0 2.74
S McClung 1 2 1 1 0 2 0 6.75
G Aquino 1 2 1 1 0 1 0 6.30

PITTSBURGH ip h r er bb so hr era
T Armas (W, 4-5) 6 3 0 0 0 3 0 6.07
F Osoria 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.54
R Sanchez 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.86

B Shouse pitched to 3 batters in the 7th.

Pitches-strikes: C Villanueva 82-52; M Wise 13-11; B Shouse 15-10; S McClung
17-12; G Aquino 11-8; T Armas 65-44; F Osoria 20-15; R Sanchez 10-6. Ground
balls-fly balls: C Villanueva 6-5; M Wise 1-0; B Shouse 0-0; S McClung 0-1; G
Aquino 0-1; T Armas 9-6; F Osoria 2-3; R Sanchez 2-1. Batters faced: C
Villanueva 22; M Wise 5; B Shouse 4; S McClung 5; G Aquino 4; T Armas 20; F
Osoria 7; R Sanchez 3.

UMPIRES: HP--Gary Cederstrom. 1B--Lance Barksdale. 2B--Tim Welke. 3B--Jim
Reynolds.

T--2:18. Att--13,683.
Weather: 74 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 2 mph, out to
right.</div>

 

NL: MILWAUKEE at PITTSBURGH

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NL
MILWAUKEE 0
PITTSBURGH 9 FINAL</div>

 

McLouth reaches river as Pirates drop Brewers into first-place tie

<h3>PITTSBURGH 9, MILWAUKEE 0</h3>By Chris Adamski
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


<div class="pre">PITTSBURGH (Ticker) The Milwaukee Brewers' most recent reign</div>atop the National League Central lasted all of about 30 hours.

Tony Armas pitched six shutout innings and Nate McLouth hit his12th home run as the Pittsburgh Pirates dropped the Brewers intoa tie for first place with a 9-0 victory Monday night.

Corey Hart had two of the Brewers' four hits as Milwaukee fellto 73-70, tied with the Chicago Cubs (73-70) who pounded the St.Louis Cardinals, 12-3, earlier Monday. Third-place St. Louisremained three games back.


The Pirates are playing the role of spoiler for everyone, having<div class="pre">won five of their past eight games all against the three</div>teams fighting for the NL Central title.


Armas (4-5), who has worked at least six innings in five of hiseight outings since re-joining the rotation August 1, allowedthree hits and no walks with three strikeouts.


McLouth's homer, which came with Nyjer Morgan aboard off ofBrewers starter Carlos Villanueva in the fifth, was a 431-footblast to right to make it 2-0. The ball made the AlleghenyRiver on a bounce off a path beyond the elevated right fieldseats, the 21st time that has happened in the seven-year historyof PNC Park (in addition to one shot landing in the river onthe fly).


It also was the 1,000th home run in the history of PNC Park.

Pittsburgh added two more runs in the sixth against Matt Wise.After Jose Bautista, Ronny Paulino and Jack Wilson singled, thePirates had the bases loaded with one out. Pinch hitter JoshPhelps grounded to third, and Milwaukee forced Wilson at second,but second baseman Rickie Weeks' relay throw to first waserrant, allowing Bautista and Paulino to score.


Milwaukee had won each of Villanueva's past four starts and sixof his past seven outings. In six of his nine career starts,Villanueva (7-4) has limited the opposition to two earned runsor less, including only six earned in his past four starts. Buthe was the loser Monday after allowing two runs on five hits infive innings, walking three and striking out four.

The Pirates broke the game open with four runs in the seventh onRBI singles by Adam LaRoche and Steve Pearce, an RBI double byPaulino and a sacrifice fly by Wilson.

 

NL: MILWAUKEE at PITTSBURGH

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MILWAUKEE (0) AT PITTSBURGH (9) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PITTSBURGH 5TH: T Armas struck out swinging. N Morgan doubled to left.
N McLouth homered to right, N Morgan scored. F Sanchez struck out swinging.
A LaRoche grounded out to first. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0,
PITTSBURGH 2.

PITTSBURGH 6TH: M Wise relieved C Villanueva. J Bautista singled to left.
S Pearce struck out swinging. R Paulino singled to right center, J Bautista to
second. J Wilson reached on infield single to shortstop, J Bautista to third,
R Paulino to second. J Phelps hit for T Armas. J Phelps grounded into
fielder's choice to third, J Bautista scored, J Wilson out at second, R Paulino
to third, R Paulino scored, J Phelps to second on throwing error by second
baseman R Weeks. B Shouse relieved M Wise. N Morgan struck out swinging.
(2 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Error) MILWAUKEE 0, PITTSBURGH 4.

PITTSBURGH 7TH: N McLouth singled to left center. N McLouth stole second.
F Sanchez singled to right, N McLouth to third. A LaRoche singled to right,
N McLouth scored, F Sanchez to second. S McClung relieved B Shouse. J Bautista
struck out swinging. S Pearce singled to left, F Sanchez scored, A LaRoche to
second. R Paulino doubled to deep center, A LaRoche scored, S Pearce to third.
J Wilson hit sacrifice fly to right, S Pearce scored, R Paulino to third.
F Osoria struck out looking. (4 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0, PITTSBURGH 8.

PITTSBURGH 8TH: G Aquino relieved S McClung. N Morgan lined out to center.
N McLouth hit a ground rule double to deep center. F Sanchez struck out
swinging. A LaRoche doubled to deep right, N McLouth scored. A LaRoche out at
third on runner's fielder's choice.(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0,
PITTSBURGH 9.</div>

 

NL: MILWAUKEE at PITTSBURGH

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MILWAUKEE (0) AT PITTSBURGH (9) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Milwaukee Starting Lineups -- R Weeks 2B, G Gross RF, R Braun 3B, P Fielder 1B,
C Hart CF, G Jenkins LF, J Estrada C, J Hardy SS, C Villanueva RHP.

Pittsburgh Starting Lineups -- N Morgan CF, N McLouth LF, F Sanchez 2B,
A LaRoche 1B, J Bautista 3B, S Pearce RF, R Paulino C, J Wilson SS, T Armas RHP.

Umpires -- Gary Cederstrom (HP), Lance Barksdale (1B), Tim Welke (2B),
Jim Reynolds (3B).

Gametime Weather: 74 degrees, Cloudy, wind out to right at 2 mph.


MILWAUKEE 1ST: R Weeks struck out looking. G Gross flied out to center.
R Braun flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0, PITTSBURGH 0.

PITTSBURGH 1ST: N Morgan lined out to center. N McLouth struck out swinging.
F Sanchez flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0,
PITTSBURGH 0.

MILWAUKEE 2ND: P Fielder singled to center. C Hart singled to center,
P Fielder to second. G Jenkins struck out swinging. J Estrada flied out to
center. J Hardy grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0,
PITTSBURGH 0.

PITTSBURGH 2ND: A LaRoche singled to deep right. J Bautista singled to
center, A LaRoche to second. S Pearce grounded into double play, shortstop to
second to first, J Bautista out at second, A LaRoche to third. R Paulino
walked. J Wilson flied out to center. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0,
PITTSBURGH 0.

MILWAUKEE 3RD: C Villanueva grounded out to shortstop. R Weeks flied out
to center. G Gross struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0,
PITTSBURGH 0.

PITTSBURGH 3RD: T Armas grounded out to third. N Morgan bunt grounded out
to pitcher. N McLouth lined out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
MILWAUKEE 0, PITTSBURGH 0.

MILWAUKEE 4TH: R Braun grounded out to third. P Fielder flied out to
center. C Hart flied out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0,
PITTSBURGH 0.

PITTSBURGH 4TH: F Sanchez grounded out to third. A LaRoche struck out
swinging. J Bautista walked. S Pearce doubled to deep right center,
J Bautista to third. R Paulino walked. J Wilson popped out to shortstop.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0, PITTSBURGH 0.

MILWAUKEE 5TH: G Jenkins grounded out to second. J Estrada singled to
left. J Hardy grounded into double play, shortstop to first, J Estrada out at
second.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0, PITTSBURGH 0.

PITTSBURGH 5TH: T Armas struck out swinging. N Morgan doubled to left.
N McLouth homered to right, N Morgan scored. F Sanchez struck out swinging.
A LaRoche grounded out to first. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0,
PITTSBURGH 2.

MILWAUKEE 6TH: L Nix hit for C Villanueva. L Nix grounded out to first.
R Weeks grounded out to second. G Gross grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0, PITTSBURGH 2.

PITTSBURGH 6TH: M Wise relieved C Villanueva. J Bautista singled to left.
S Pearce struck out swinging. R Paulino singled to right center, J Bautista to
second. J Wilson reached on infield single to shortstop, J Bautista to third,
R Paulino to second. J Phelps hit for T Armas. J Phelps grounded into
fielder's choice to third, J Bautista scored, J Wilson out at second, R Paulino
to third, R Paulino scored, J Phelps to second on throwing error by second
baseman R Weeks. B Shouse relieved M Wise. N Morgan struck out swinging.
(2 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Error) MILWAUKEE 0, PITTSBURGH 4.

MILWAUKEE 7TH: F Osoria relieved T Armas. R Braun grounded out to second.
P Fielder flied out to center. C Hart reached on bunt single to pitcher.
G Jenkins lined out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0, PITTSBURGH 4.

PITTSBURGH 7TH: N McLouth singled to left center. N McLouth stole second.
F Sanchez singled to right, N McLouth to third. A LaRoche singled to right,
N McLouth scored, F Sanchez to second. S McClung relieved B Shouse. J Bautista
struck out swinging. S Pearce singled to left, F Sanchez scored, A LaRoche to
second. R Paulino doubled to deep center, A LaRoche scored, S Pearce to third.
J Wilson hit sacrifice fly to right, S Pearce scored, R Paulino to third.
F Osoria struck out looking. (4 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0, PITTSBURGH 8.

MILWAUKEE 8TH: J Estrada grounded out to pitcher. J Hardy lined out to
shortstop. B Hall hit for S McClung. B Hall struck out swinging. (0 Runs,
0 Hits, 0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0, PITTSBURGH 8.

PITTSBURGH 8TH: G Aquino relieved S McClung. N Morgan lined out to center.
N McLouth hit a ground rule double to deep center. F Sanchez struck out
swinging. A LaRoche doubled to deep right, N McLouth scored. A LaRoche out at
third on runner's fielder's choice.(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0,
PITTSBURGH 9.

MILWAUKEE 9TH: R Sanchez relieved F Osoria. R Weeks flied out to center.
G Gross grounded out to first. R Braun grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) MILWAUKEE 0, PITTSBURGH 9.</div>

 

McLouth reaches river as Pirates drop Brewers into first-place tie

<h3>PITTSBURGH 9, MILWAUKEE 0</h3>By Chris Adamski
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The Milwaukee Brewers' most recent reignatop the National League Central lasted all of about 30 hours.

Tony Armas pitched six shutout innings and Nate McLouth hit his12th home run as the Pittsburgh Pirates dropped the Brewers intoa tie for first place with a 9-0 victory Monday night.

Corey Hart had two of the Brewers' four hits as Milwaukee fellto 73-70, tied with the Chicago Cubs (73-70) who pounded the St.Louis Cardinals, 12-3, earlier Monday. Third-place St. Louisremained three games back.


"You can give Armas credit, but right now I don't care aboutcredit," said Milwaukee first baseman Prince Fielder, who went1-for-3. "We've gotta win. I don't care about credit."

The Pirates are playing the role of spoiler for everyone, havingwon five of their past eight games all against the three teamsfighting for the NL Central title.


"We're still playing for ourselves," said McLouth, whose team isnine games out and in fifth place. "We're playing to win everygame. If we happen to beat contenders, I guess all the better."

Armas (4-5), who has worked at least six innings in five of hiseight outings since re-joining the rotation August 1, allowedthree hits and no walks with three strikeouts.


"(Armas) gave us his best effort of the season, in my opinion,"Pittsburgh manager Jim Tracy said. "Tonight what you saw was avery confident pitcher."


"It feels good," said Armas, who had an 8.46 ERA when he wasoriginally removed from the rotation May 17. "But the thing Ilike most is that we got the win as a team."


McLouth's homer, which came with Nyjer Morgan aboard off ofBrewers starter Carlos Villanueva in the fifth, was a 431-footblast to right to make it 2-0. The ball made the AlleghenyRiver on a bounce off a path beyond the elevated right fieldseats, the 21st time that has happened in the seven-year historyof PNC Park (in addition to one shot landing in the river onthe fly).


It also was the 1,000th home run in the history of PNC Park.

Pittsburgh added two more runs in the sixth against Matt Wise.After Jose Bautista, Ronny Paulino and Jack Wilson singled, thePirates had the bases loaded with one out. Pinch hitter JoshPhelps grounded to third, and Milwaukee forced Wilson at second,but second baseman Rickie Weeks' relay throw to first waserrant, allowing Bautista and Paulino to score.


"That's huge right there," Brewers manager Ned Yost said."You've got to turn that. This time of year, you've got to turnthose. Wiser came in and made the pitch he wanted to make, hegot the ground ball he wanted and Brauny made a good feed. Wejust didn't turn it."


Milwaukee had won each of Villanueva's past four starts and sixof his past seven outings. In six of his nine career starts,Villanueva (7-4) has limited the opposition to two earned runsor less, including only six earned in his past four starts. Buthe was the loser Monday after allowing two runs on five hits infive innings, walking three and striking out four.

"I felt like I had decent stuff today," Villanueva said. "Thelocation was not what I would have liked; it could have been alittle better, but I felt like it was good. I at least went outthere and gave the team a chance to win the game."

The Pirates broke the game open with four runs in the seventh onRBI singles by Adam LaRoche and Steve Pearce, an RBI double byPaulino and a sacrifice fly by Wilson.


"Taking care of the series is what we have to do now,"Villanueva said. "It's big to win the series and continue toplay winning series.


"It sounds like a cliche this time of year but that's what youhave to do now."