Bryse Wilson impresses in debut, but Brewers belt Pirates bullpen in 6-2 victory

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ three-game series in Milwaukee means little in the National League Central standings, with the Brewers in first place by 7½ games.

But it matters to the Pirates who are using three starting pitchers — Bryse Wilson on Monday night, Max Kranick on Tuesday and Steven Brault on Wednesday — who didn’t start the season in Pittsburgh.

After Wilson pitched well in five innings of a 6-2 loss to the Brewers at American Family Field, manager Derek Shelton refused to declare it a major change to his rotation, but merely giving other pitchers opportunities after a long summer of losses, trades and injuries. The Pirates (40-66) have lost 10 of their past 14 games and 10 of 11 to the Brewers.

“We’ve said all along there are going to be opportunities for different guys,” Shelton said. “I don’t know if it’s the changing of the guard, but more just giving guys opportunities.”

Wilson, acquired from the Atlanta Braves last week in the Richard Rodriguez trade, opened the series by throwing five innings while allowing only one run and two infield singles. It was an impressive debut for Wilson, who was facing a team that had averaged six runs per game since the All-Star break.

“Good first outing for Bryse,” Shelton said. “That was good to see. Really good first impression for us.”

Before the game, Shelton said he was eager to see Wilson pitch in a Pirates uniform, rather than rely on video from his Braves outings. He was even better in-person, Shelton said.

“Actually, I thought the fastball played better,” he said. “Sometimes, when you see it on video, you don’t know what the action’s going to be. The two-seamer really played and was very effective.”

Wilson received little help from his teammates, especially the bullpen, other than center fielder Bryan Reynolds’ two outstanding catches to rob Tyrone Taylor of hits.

With Phillip Evans (.205) batting leadoff for the first time this season, the Pirates managed only four hits against starter Eric Lauer and two relief pitchers through eight innings.

John Axford, 38, who hadn’t pitched since 2018, opened the ninth for the Brewers (64-43) and gave up a run after hitting Reynolds with a pitch, allowing singles by Jacob Stallings and Gregory Polanco and an RBI walk to pinch-hitter Ben Gamel.

Brad Boxberger was called to quell the rally, but he walked Wilmer Difo to force in another run. Finally, the game ended when Evans struck out, looking.

Wilson threw 74 pitches without a strikeout — 20 more than his last outing for the Braves — and he forced soft contact from Brewers hitters during several at-bats.

The Brewers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third inning, but they did it with two infield singles and a sacrifice fly.

Lorenzo Cain opened the inning with a slow roller to third base that turned into a single. After Cain stole second base, Lauer placed a perfect bunt down the third-base line. Wilson called it one of the best bunts he’s seen. First baseman John Nogowski fielded it, but slipped on the grass and had no play.

With runners on the corners, Kolton Wong’s sacrifice fly scored Cain. Then, Willy Adames appeared to bounce into an inning-ending, around-the-horn double play, but second baseman Rodolfo Castro never touched the base with the ball in his glove. Brewers manager Craig Counsell challenged, and the call was reversed.

Nonetheless, Wilson got the last out when Omar Narvaez flied out to left field to officially end the inning.

Asked to assess his overall outing, Wilson said he was pleased with his changeup and the two-seam fastball that rode in on right-handed hitters. More to the point, pitching for a team that believes in him also helped. With the Braves, he was regularly shuttled between Atlanta and the minors, but the Pirates plan to keep him in the rotation.

“When you’re traded for, the team obviously wants you so you want to come out and make a good first impression,” he said. “There were a little bit of butterflies there, but at the end of the day, I just wanted to go out and throw the way I know I can.”

The Brewers scored two runs in the sixth against reliever Kyle Keller, the first on Eduardo Escobar’s RBI triple to right field. Narvaez, who had walked, scored from first base without the Pirates making a play on him after Polanco was slow getting the ball out of the corner.

Keller loaded the bases when he hit Avisail Garcia with a pitch and intentionally walked Rowdy Tellez after Garcia stole second. Taylor forced Keller to throw nine pitches, eventually drawing an RBI walk. Cain flied out to center field, but Keller needed 33 pitches to survive the inning.

Nick Mears, the next Pirates relief pitcher, didn’t finish the seventh, but he stayed in the game after twisting his ankle trying to field Wong’s line drive that hit him in the thigh. Mears pitched to four more batters after that, but he walked two and surrendered a three-run homer to Escobar to give the Brewers a 6-0 lead.

“The longer he was out there the more stiff it got,” Shelton said.

Shea Spitzbarth, brought up from Triple-A Indianapolis earlier in the day, relieved Mears. He gave up a hit and a walk, but no further damage.

”Not the easiest situation to come in and have to warm up on the mound because of an injury,” Shelton said. “He settled down and did a nice job.”