Pittsburgh, PA – Marlon Byrd belted a three-run homer in his first appearance with his new club, as the Pittsburgh Pirates snapped a three- game losing streak with a 7-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Byrd, acquired Tuesday along with John Buck from the New York Mets, went 1-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts in his debut but lifted the Pirates in his final at-bat with his 22nd home run of the season.
Gaby Sanchez and Josh Harrison picked up three hits and an RBI apiece behind Charlie Morton (6-3), who was terrific in 6 2/3 innings, allowing just an unearned run on five hits.
"You see confidence, you see really good tempo and rhythm on the mound," said Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle about Morton. "His complete arsenal of pitches has been in play and he's been really consistent."
Tom Gorzelanny (3-6) lasted 5 1/3 innings in defeat after surrendering four runs on nine hits.
"We didn't pitch that well," said Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke. "Offensively, we hit some balls hard that were caught that could have got some things going for us."
The Pirates put a run across in the first inning as Harrison led off with a single to center and scored two batters later when Andrew McCutchen lined an RBI single to left. Gorzelanny got himself out of the jam when he snagged Byrd's liner back to the mound and doubled off McCutchen.
Sanchez's two-out single to right in the fourth plated McCutchen for Pittsburgh's second run.
The Pirates doubled their lead with two more in the fifth. Jose Tabata started things off with a triple to the wall in right. Harrison knocked him in with a single to center and Jordy Mercer ripped a two-bagger to right to score Harrison.
Milwaukee's lone run came in the seventh, aided by catcher Russell Martin's throwing error. Scooter Gennett singled with one out and advanced to second on a Juan Francisco walk. Gennett then reached third when Yuniesky Betancourt grounded into a fielder's choice and scored when Martin tried to pick Betancourt off at first base.
The throwing error was the first Pirates' miscue since the thing inning on Aug. 20 against San Diego.
Byrd's three-run shot to center field put the Pirates ahead 7-1 and earned a curtain call from his new fans in Pittsburgh.
Milwaukee threatened in the eighth inning off reliever Vin Mazzaro, but the right-hander settled down and forced Gennett and Francisco to pop up with the bases loaded.
Game Notes
McCutchen now has nine multi-hit games over his last 11 at home ... Milwaukee hit 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base while the Pirates went 5-for-14 with RISP, only leaving six on ... Gorzelanny threw 72 of his 99 pitches for strikes.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.