Miller goes 4-for-5 as Brewers pound Pirates
| WERE YOU THERE? |
Did you attend this game? If so, start chronicling your sports memories today with ESPN's Sports Passport. Enter the games you attend, upload your photos and share your memories! I was there »
|
| Regular Season Series |
| Milwaukee leads 10-6 (as of Mon 7/2) |
| Wed 4/18 |
@MIL 7, PIT 3 |
Recap |
| Thu 4/19 |
@MIL 7, PIT 5 |
Recap |
| Thu 5/3 |
PIT 4, @MIL 2 |
Recap |
| Fri 5/4 |
@MIL 10, PIT 0 |
Recap |
| Sat 5/5 |
@MIL 6, PIT 3 |
Recap |
| Sun 5/6 |
@MIL 6, PIT 4 |
Recap |
| >Mon 7/2 |
MIL 10, @PIT 3 |
Box Score |
| Tue 7/3 |
@PIT 6, MIL 2 |
Recap |
| Wed 7/4 |
@PIT 5, MIL 3 |
Recap |
| Thu 7/5 |
@PIT 6, MIL 3 |
Recap |
| Fri 8/31 |
@MIL 3, PIT 2 |
Recap |
| Sat 9/1 |
@MIL 12, PIT 3 |
Recap |
| Sun 9/2 |
@MIL 7, PIT 4 |
Recap |
| Mon 9/10 |
@PIT 9, MIL 0 |
Recap |
| Tue 9/11 |
MIL 6, @PIT 1 |
Recap |
| Wed 9/12 |
@PIT 7, MIL 4 |
Recap |
| · Complete Schedule: Pirates | Brewers |
| Scoring Summary |
| MIL | PIT |
 | 1st | F Sanchez grounded out to shortstop, N McLouth scored. | 0 | 1 |
 | 2nd | D Miller singled to left, P Fielder scored, B Hall to second. | 1 | 1 |
 | 3rd | N McLouth doubled to deep center, J Van Benschoten scored. | 1 | 2 |
 | 4th | D Miller homered to left, B Hall scored. | 3 | 2 |
 | 5th | F Sanchez hit sacrifice fly to center, N McLouth scored. | 3 | 3 |
 | 7th | C Hart doubled to left, T Graffanino scored. | 4 | 3 |
 | 7th | J Hardy singled to left, C Hart scored. | 5 | 3 |
 | 7th | B Hall doubled to right, J Hardy scored, P Fielder to third. | 6 | 3 |
 | 7th | D Miller homered to left, P Fielder, B Hall and G Jenkins scored. | 10 | 3 |
| · View complete Play-By-Play |
| Game Information |
| Stadium | PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA |
| Attendance | 14,455 (37.7% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 2:59 |
| Weather | 76 degrees, clear |
| Wind | 4 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Jim Joyce, First Base - Mike Everitt, Second Base - Jim Wolf, Third Base - Rob Drake |
| A CLOSER LOOK |
|
• Summary: Damian Miller, who went 4-for-5 with two homers including a grand slam, tied a franchise record with seven RBIs to get the Brewers off to a good opening start in a four-game series with a victory over the Pirates.
| |  | |
| Miller |
• Turning point: Miller's grand slam put the icing on a seven-run seventh inning for Milwaukee. He has three homers and 11 RBIs in his last two games.
• Hero: The grand slam was the sixth of Miller's career and Milwaukee's sixth this season. Miller's four-hit game tied a career high, set three times previously.
• Figure this: Also driving in seven runs for the Brewers were Ted Kubiak (1970), Jose Hernandez (2001) and Richie Sexson (2002).
• Quotable: "There's no explanation for it. I got good pitches to hit." -- Miller
-- ESPN.com news services
|
Brewers 10, Pirates 3
PITTSBURGH (AP) --
Damian Miller's T-shirt under his
Milwaukee Brewers jersey reads "Hitting Is Simple," which is
Tony Gwynn's philosophy at the plate. Not even Gwynn, the soon-to-be Hall of Fame inductee, had many nights like this.
Miller, a backup catcher, homered twice during a four-hit night, including a grand slam in a seven-run seventh inning, and his seven RBIs matched a club record in a 10-3 rout of the
Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday.
Miller went 4-for-5 while playing for the first time since his three-run, game-ending homer in the 11th inning beat Houston on Wednesday -- his first homer this season. Miller has three homers and 11 RBIs in two games after previously having no homers and six RBIs all season.
"There's no explanation for it," Miller said. "I got good pitches to hit."
Doesn't get much simpler than that.
"Tony Gwynn, I'm not quite to that level," Miller said.
This time, he was.
The Pirates should have known better than to pitch to him, given their recent problems pitching to backup catchers. They lost 3-2 to Washington on Sunday, costing them a three-game sweep, when little-used catcher
Jesus Flores hit a decisive two-run homer in the sixth.
Miller initially wasn't supposed to play Monday -- starter
Johnny Estrada was scheduled to take Sunday off, but he stayed in the lineup because manager Ned Yost felt he matched up better against the Cubs'
Jason Marquis. That meant Miller started in Pittsburgh, where the Brewers had dropped 37 of 55 since PNC Park opened in 2001.
"I forgot what it was like. They've got good lights in the big leagues," said Miller, who normally plays only in day games that follow night games.
Miller's two-run shot off rookie
John Van Benschoten made it 3-1 in the fourth and was one of only three hits off the right-hander in six innings, but the Brewers had a lot more by the time the seventh inning ended.
Masumi Kuwata (0-1), the Pirates' 39-year-old major league rookie, watched his ERA climb from 2.53 to 7.94 as he yielded five hits and seven runs in two-thirds of an inning.
Corey Hart doubled and scored on
J.J. Hardy's go-ahead single, and
Bill Hall added an RBI double around intentional walks to
Prince Fielder and
Geoff Jenkins. After Pirates manager Jim Tracy went to the mound to talk with Kuwata, Miller hit a curveball into the left-center seats for the Brewers' sixth grand slam this season. They didn't have any a season ago.
"What did he have, one homer and 10 RBIs?" Tracy said of Miller. "You're not going to let Prince Fielder or Geoff Jenkins beat you there."
Kuwata, a long time Japanese star, is admittedly at the end of his career -- his fastball doesn't come close to reaching 90 mph. After four consecutive disappointing seasons back home for the Yomiuri Giants, he is realizing a career-long goal by pitching in the majors. Only he didn't want to pitch this way, especially after pitching effectively in most of his first nine appearances.
"I'm really disappointed with myself," he said, blaming his curveball. "Tonight, I couldn't control it. It's the seventh inning, the score is tied, I have to keep the ball down."
Tracy, his team 12 games under .500 one game past the midpoint of the season, heard numerous boos as he went to the mound to replace Kuwata with
John Wasdin.
Nate McLouth doubled twice and scored both times against Brewers starter
Jeff Suppan, who left after throwing 106 pitches in five innings. Carlos Villaneuva (6-0) pitched four shutout innings for the victory, working with a seven-run lead the final three innings.
"If I can save the rest of the guys in the bullpen, I'll do my best," he said.
Game notes Also driving in seven runs for the Brewers were Ted Kubiak (1970),
Jose Hernandez (2001) and
Richie Sexson (2002). ... The grand slam was the sixth of Miller's career. His four-hit game tied a career high, set three times previously. ... Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., threw out the first pitch. He was given a Pirates No. 2 jersey and watched the game from the grandstands. ... Despite excellent weather, the Pirates drew only 33,600 for their last two home games -- 14,451 on Monday. The small crowds followed an organized fan protest against ownership during the club's 15th consecutive losing season. ... The Pirates' slumping
Jason Bay hit sixth for the first time this season and went 0-for-4 to drop his average to .259, down from .314 on June 1.