Joey Bart hit a grand slam to highlight Pittsburgh’s five-homer barrage as the visiting Pirates pounded out a 12-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series.
Bryan Reynolds, Rowdy Tellez, Jack Suwinski and Joshua Palacios also went deep for the Pirates, who earned their second win in a row.
With the score tied 2-2, the Pirates opened the sixth inning with five consecutive singles off Colin Rea (8-3). Reynolds, Tellez and Nick Gonzales each singled to snap the tie. Ke’Bryan Hayes singled to load the bases, and Suwinski followed with an RBI single, chasing Rea from the game.
Bryse Wilson entered in relief, and Bart sent a 2-2 pitch 392 feet to left-center for his fifth homer of the season to make it 8-2.
Quinn Priester (1-5), activated from the injured list earlier Tuesday, got the win in relief. Priester, who came on in the second, allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits in six innings, striking out eight and walking two.
Rea, who had not lost since May 19, was tagged for seven runs on six hits in five-plus innings. He fanned three and walked two as Milwaukee took its fourth loss in five games.
Tellez, who spent the previous 2 1/2 seasons with Milwaukee, put the Pirates up 9-2 in the seventh with a solo homer. It was his eighth home run of the season and the 100th of his career.
Suwinski added a solo homer, his ninth long ball, and Palacios socked a two-run homer, his second home run, in the eighth to make it 12-2.
Reynolds staked the Pirates to a 2-0 lead with his 17th homer, a two-run shot in the third.
The Brewers answered with two runs in the bottom half of the frame. Jackson Chourio reached on an error, took second on a passed ball and scored on William Contreras’ double. Blake Perkins added a one-out RBI single.
Milwaukee had three walks and two stolen bases off opener Josh Fleming in a 24-pitch first inning, but Fleming kept the Brewers off the board with the aid of a double play.
–Field Level Media
