Shaky defense costs Pirates in 6-1 series-ending loss to Milwaukee

Fielding errors and a shaky seventh inning by the bullpen cost the Pittsburgh Pirates a chance at taking two of three games against Milwaukee on Wednesday afternoon at American Family Field.

Coming off Tuesday’s win over the Brewers, the Pirates saw their one-run advantage evaporate in the fifth and sixth innings, when gaffes by Ke’Bryan Hayes, Oneil Cruz and Kevin Newman allowed the Brewers to plate a pair of runs en route to a 6-1 victory.

The Pirates (49-81) got on the board first when Ben Gamel sent a solo home run, his seventh of the season, over the right-center field wall off Brewers starter Freddy Peralta.

Milwaukee answered in the bottom of the fifth, tying the score thanks to an RBI double by Willy Adames, who battled Pirates reliever Manny Banuelos for 10 pitches, driving the final one he saw into center field and scoring Tyrone Taylor.

The Pirates had a chance before that to end the inning, when Christian Yelich hit a grounder to Hayes that likely would have started double play. But Hayes failed to field the ball cleanly, putting men on first and second with one out with Adames coming up.

In the sixth inning, Cruz threw off the mark to first base, allowing Keston Hiura to reach safely.

Hiura later scored on a sharply hit RBI groundout by Omar Narvaez, putting the Brewers in front, 2-1.

That scoring play was one Newman likely wishes he had back. While ultimately not nearly as egregious as either Hayes’ or Cruz’s plays — Newman was not charged with an error — he bobbled the ball after fielding a scorching one-hopper off the bat of Narvaez.

Had he grabbed the ball out of his glove cleanly, he would have had ample time to throw out Hiura, who broke for home plate on contact.

Before and after Gamel’s homer, the Pirates failed to mount much of a threat offensively, collecting just five hits on the afternoon. Newman, who hit a two-out eighth inning double, was 2 for 4.

“We can talk about not making a couple plays defensively and walking guys, but if we don’t get anything going offensively, it really doesn’y matter,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said during the AT&T SportsNet postgame show.

To Hayes’ credit, he made a nice diving stop on the third-base line, robbing Adames of an RBI double and preventing further damage the sixth.

In the bottom of the seventh, Cruz was on the wrong end of another play at shortstop, when Hiura lined a one-hopper that deflected off his glove, allowing another run to score. Hiura was credited with a hit on the play.

The aforementioned struggles in the field, save for Hayes’ error, happened while Pirates reliever Miguel Jajure was on the mound.

But Cruz was far from the main culprit in the inning, in which Milwaukee scored four runs to take a 6-1 lead.

Yajure, making his first appearance with the Pirates after being called up from Triple-A Indianapolis, a move announced shortly before the first pitch Wednesday, went 1 1/3 innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on three hits with three walks and a strikeout.

Yohan Ramirez replaced Yajure in the seventh but was unable to get out of things without issue.

Ramirez walked three straight batters upon entering the game, the latter two with the bases loaded, with both runs being charged to Yajure.

In total, Banuelos, Yajure and Ramirez walked eight (two intentionally) over three combined innings of relief.

The Pirates started Zach Thompson, who has bounced between the bullpen and starting lineup since mid-August, five days after his five-inning relief outing in Philadelphia.

While Shelton yanked him after four innings, Thompson was efficient, giving up no runs while striking out five, walking one and allowing three hits.

“Thompson was really good,” Shelton said. “We got exactly what we wanted out of him.”

The just-completed three-game series in Milwaukee leads into a nine-game homestand for the Pirates, which, after an off day Thursday, starts Friday evening against the Toronto Blue Jays.