Brewers finish strong over Pirates to win 12th straight game

William Contreras drove in four runs and Christian Yelich three more in the host Milwaukee Brewers’ 12-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.
It was the Brewers’ 12th consecutive win, which is the second time in franchise history the team has won at least 12 in a row. Milwaukee has also won 27 of its last 31 games.
Bryan Reynolds homered twice and drove in all five runs for the Pirates, who lost their fifth straight.
Reliever Jared Koenig (5-1) got the win with a scoreless inning.
Milwaukee starter Brandon Woodruff allowed four hits in four innings with two walks and four strikeouts. He threw 65 pitches.
Pittsburgh starter Mitch Keller (5-11) took the loss, giving up six runs and eight hits in four innings with two walks and five strikeouts.
Contreras’ two-run single in the sixth stretched the Brewers’ lead to 8-5.
Milwaukee added four in the seventh on Joey Ortiz’ run-scoring single, Contreras’ bases-loaded walk, and Yelich’s two-run single.
Reynolds’ second homer of the game and 13th of the season pulled the Pirates to within 6-5. He drove Nick Mears’ 1-2 pitch over the fence in right field with two out.
Reynolds’ first home run, a three-run shot in the fifth, halved the deficit to 6-3 for Pittsburgh. It came off of reliever Shelby Miller.
The Brewers took a 2-0 lead in the third on an RBI single by Sal Frelick and a two-out, run-scoring single from Yelich.
Milwaukee scored four runs with two out in the fourth to make it 6-0.
Ortiz had an RBI single, Frelick a run-scoring double, Isaac Collins an RBI double and Contreras a run-producing single.
Woodruff got out of two on, two-out situations in each of the first three innings.
He escaped a first-and-third jam in the first by getting Nick Gonzales on a ground out and then a second-and-third scenario in the second by striking out Ronny Simon. And in the third Woodruff got Jack Suwinski on a called third strike with runners on first and second.