Bryse Wilson delivers quality spot start as Pirates beat Brewers

Needing a spot start, the Pittsburgh Pirates crossed their fingers and recalled right-hander Bryse Wilson with the hope they were getting the version who started to show consistency at Triple-A Indianapolis and not the one who had been battered by the St. Louis Cardinals.

What they got was better than expected.

Wilson delivered a quality start, and the Pirates jumped out to an early lead to beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-4, on Saturday afternoon before 26,505 at PNC Park to assure at least a four-game series split.

It was a big bounce-back win for the Pirates after a 19-2 loss Friday night and for Wilson (1-4), who earned his first win since Sept. 18.

“It is great feeling, kind of like a breath of fresh air,” Wilson said. “Weight being taken off my shoulders. I knew it was there. It was good just finding out how to get it and how to use my stuff and execute the way I did. It’s a huge confidence booster, being able to take the results that I had in Triple-A and put together these results.”

Wilson (1-4) had allowed 14 runs on 16 hits in 6²⁄₃ innings in his past two starts for the Pirates, including seven runs on 10 hits in a 9-1 loss to the Cardinals in the second game of a doubleheader June 14. Since then, Wilson had a pair of strong starts for Indianapolis against Memphis, including a 10-strikeout performance June 21.

On his second pitch, Wilson hit leadoff batter Christian Yelich in the back. Yelich advanced to second on a groundout by Rowdy Tellez and reached third when Andrew McCutchen legged out an infield single to beat the throw of third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, who scooped the ball after a comebacker glanced off Wilson’s glove. Kolten Wong singled to left to score Yelich for a 1-0 lead.

The Brewers had runners on second and third with one out in the second inning, but Yelich hit a 94.4 mph line drive to shortstop Oneil Cruz, who ran to step on third base to get Jace Peterson out for a double play.

Cruz turned another double play in the third and was part of a 4-6-3 double play in the fourth.

That allowed Wilson to settle into a groove as he relied on his sinker to induce ground balls and mixed his slider with a changeup and four-seamer to hold the Brewers to two runs on eight hits and one walk with four strikeouts on 85 pitches.

“Bryse did a good job of putting the ball on the ground and got himself out of jams,” Shelton said, “which enabled us for him to go six innings and be able to save our bullpen a little bit, which was important.”

Milwaukee lefty Aaron Ashby (1-6) returned from the 15-day injured list after missing the minimum amount of time with forearm inflammation. He allowed four runs on five hits, including two home runs, while striking out six in 3²⁄₃ innings.

The Pirates took a 3-1 lead in the third, which started with Tyler Heineman’s single to center.

Heineman scored on a fielder’s choice by Bryan Reynolds to tie the score. Michael Chavis drilled Ashby’s 3-0 sinker 409 feet to center for his ninth home run and a two-run lead.

Ashby’s final pitch proved fatal as Cruz crushed a 1-1 sinker to right field for his third home run and a 4-1 lead in the fourth inning.

The Cruz missile had an exit velocity of 112.3 mph, the hardest-hit homer of the season by a Pirate.

“My first thought was, ‘I hope a fan gets out of the way because this ball is coming in hot,’ ” Shelton said. “There wasn’t a doubt it was going to get out. It was just making sure no one got hurt in the process.”

Cruz has an RBI in each of his first nine home games, the longest streak in PNC Park history and the first by a Pirates player since Orlando Merced had 10 in 1996.

Yelich answered with a 416-foot shot to center for his eighth homer to cut it to 4-2 in the fifth, but the Pirates got a two-run single from designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach to increase their lead to 6-2. Diego Castillo followed with a 420-foot double off the wall at the North Side Notch in left-center to drive in Vogelbach for a 7-2 lead.

Wong hit a solo homer off Chase De Jong in the eighth to make it 7-3. Peterson doubled to right to score Luis Urias, who slid his left hand under Heineman’s tag to make it 7-4.

The Pirates turned to David Bednar in the ninth. He walked Yelich on four pitches but got Willy Adames to ground into a forceout and struck out Tellez. That brought McCutchen, who was 8 for 14 in the series, to bat. With the crowd on its feet and cheering every pitch, Bednar got McCutchen to fly out to right for the final out and his 12th save.

Whether Wilson stays in the starting rotation remains to be seen — the Pirates will need to make a roster move to reinstate Sunday starter Zach Thompson from the 15-day injured list — but Wilson’s performance proved to be a confidence boost for himself and his teammates.

“He’s a big piece for us,” Chavis said. “We were hyped he was here. Then to see him have that success today was incredible, especially given the run in the first.

“From a hitter’s perspective, that’s kind of like striking out in your first at-bat. You kind of have to just reset and go back out there. He absolutely just went out and kept shoving. … I can’t say enough about him. If anything that’s the player of the game, for sure.”