Pittsburgh, PA – Norichika Aoki went 3-for-5 with three RBI and Marco Estrada spun seven innings of one run ball as the Brewers snapped a four-game skid with a 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Milwaukee ran all over A.J. Burnett (3-4) in the opener of this four-game set, with Jean Segura recording three of the team's six stolen bases while also racking up three hits and an RBI.
Aoki swiped two bags and scored twice while Carlos Gomez added an RBI in the victory, just Milwaukee's second in the month of May.
After getting rocked for 13 runs over his last two outings, Estrada (3-2) bounced back with a strong performance on Monday, matching his longest start of the season. He allowed just three hits and struck out five.
"That's what you hope for, but to turn around that quick is difficult," said Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke of his starter. "He commanded the ball just like we saw him last year when he was on."
Burnett allowed more than two runs for the first time in six starts, charged with four -- three earned -- on seven hits. He struck out seven as Pittsburgh saw its three-game win streak come to an end.
"I've gotten good over my career at turning the page quickly, one pitch at a time and not letting things escalate," said Burnett.
Pedro Alvarez plated the only run for the Pirates, who had just four hits.
Aoki doubled to start the game and Segura reached with an infield single before swiping a bag to put runners on second and third. Gomez then plated a run with an infield hit for a 1-0 Brewers lead.
Segura reached and stole second again in the third. He would have scored on Aramis Ramirez's shot into deep center, but Andrew McCutchen ran it down and made an inning-ending leaping catch near the wall to rob an extra base hit.
A pair of doubles in the fifth helped Milwaukee add to its advantage, with Aoki's grounder down the right field line scoring Logan Schafer. Aoki then stole third and pushed the Brewers' lead to 3-0 when he was able to break up Michael McKenry's tag at the plate.
The Brewers took advantage of a couple Pittsburgh errors in the seventh to tack on another run. First baseman Gaby Sanchez's blunder allowed to Schafer to reach first to start the frame and he moved to second on Burnett's errant pickoff attempt.
Schafer advanced to third on Estrada's sac bunt and was able to score when Burnett dropped Aoki's line drive and threw wide of Sanchez at first.
The Pirates finally got on the board in the bottom half, with Sanchez redeeming himself by leading off the frame with a double off the wall in right. He moved to third on Neil Walker's fly out and came home on an Alvarez groundout to make it 4-1.
Alex Gonzalez led off the ninth with a single, moved to second on Schafer's bunt, advanced to third on a wild pitch from Tony Watson and scored on Aoki's infield hit to account for the final margin.
Game Notes
The Pirates have dropped 30 of their last 38 games against Milwaukee ... The Brewers have won five straight at PNC Park ... Segura recorded his 17th multi- hit game of the season ... Walker was activated from the 15-day disabled list on Monday, going 0-for-4 in his return. Pittsburgh optioned infielder Jordy Mercer to Triple-A Indianapolis ... The Pirates were 0-for-5 with RISP.
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