Johan Oviedo tosses 7 shutout innings, Pirates hit 3 homers to beat Brewers for series split

Johan Oviedo knew he would be overshadowed by Brandon Woodruff’s return to the Milwaukee Brewers’ starting rotation, yet the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander had no shortage of motivation.

Oviedo, who had his worst start of his career against the Brewers last month at PNC Park, produced his best start of the season by tossing seven shutout innings Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee.

Endy Rodriguez and Connor Joe made Woodruff pay for a pair of mistakes by hitting solo home runs, and Bryan Reynolds added a pinch-hit, two-run homer as the Pirates beat the NL Central-leading Brewers, 4-1, at American Family Field to split the four-game series.

The fourth-place Pirates (50-61) are nine games behind Milwaukee (60-53) in division standings but moved to within 7 1/2 games of NL wild-card contention. After losing the series opener, 14-1, on Thursday, the Pirates outscored the Brewers, 14-8, over the next three games. The Pirates begin a seven-game homestand Monday with a four-game series against NL East-leading Atlanta, followed by three against Cincinnati.

“It always feel good to be able to split the series with the team that’s leading the division,” Rodriguez said through interpreter Stephen Morales on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “It gives us that push to continue the rest of the season.”

It marked Oviedo’s 11th start this season allowing one or fewer runs, the second-most in the NL. After losing seven of eight decisions from June 10 to July 21, Oviedo (6-11) has given up only two runs in winning his last three starts.

That’s a world of difference from his performance in the 11-8 loss on July 1 at PNC Park. Oviedo allowed eight earned runs on nine hits — including a three-run homer by Christian Yelich — and three walks in five innings as he was handed the fifth of six consecutive defeats.

“Last time that we came here, we lost all three so it was a little bit more personal for everyone, especially for me,” Oviedo told AT&T SportsNet in an on-field interview, referring to the Brewers’ three-game sweep June 16-18. “When I pitched at home, I gave up a couple runs. So it means a lot to win today.”

Oviedo delivered his third consecutive quality start, holding the Brewers to two hits and three walks while striking out six on 101 pitches (62 strikes). Oviedo showed strong fastball command, generating a combined 23 called strikes and whiffs with his four-seamer and slider.

“It’s been huge for me,” Oviedo said. “Earlier in the year, I was using more sliders than fastballs. Now, I’ve switched that up and using more four-seams so every time the breaking pitches are on the strike zone I have better results. So I’m just trying to keep it that way.”

Oviedo got plenty of help from his battery mate as Rodriguez went 3 for 4 to become the first Pirates rookie catcher with three hits and a homer since Michael McKenry went 3 for 7 with a homer in a 4-3, 19-inning loss to the Atlanta Braves on July 26, 2011.

Rodriguez has caught Oviedo’s past three games, and they have developed a fast friendship. They live in the same apartment complex, so they have been talking about games while hanging out together.

“He’s a great kid. I really like him a lot,” Oviedo said. “His mentality and the way he goes about it is amazing. He’s always trying to learn. He listens to me, and we always have a good plan. … I’m trying to keep him under my wings so we can move forward.”

Added Rodriguez: “We communicate a lot between innings. That’s the key to our success.”

Brewers catcher William Contreras got both hits, but they were followed by strong defensive plays. In the first inning, first baseman Alfonso Rivas caught Carlos Santana’s line drive and turned an unassisted double play.

In the sixth, Contreras was thrown out at third while trying to stretch a double when shortstop Liover Peguero took Jack Suwinski’s throw from center and fired it to Ke’Bryan Hayes at third. The Brewers challenged the call, claiming Contreras evaded Hayes’ tag, but it was upheld after a video review and the inning ended.

Woodruff, who had been out since April 7 with a strained muscle behind his right shoulder, looked like he was in midseason form for the first two innings. He struck out the first five batters he faced on his way to recording nine strikeouts without a walk.

That changed when Rodriguez led off the third by drilling a full-count fastball for a 367-foot line drive to right field for his second home run to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

Woodruff recovered to retire the rest of the side and recorded seven of his nine strikeouts through the first three innings. But Joe led off the fourth by driving a 2-1 slider 358 feet down the left-field line for his eighth homer to stretch the lead to 2-0.

Rodriguez showed his smarts when he saw Brewers third baseman Andruw Monasterio shifted toward shortstop in the fifth inning. He laid down a bunt for a single only to have Peguero hit into a double play.

“Overall, I thought he played probably his best game,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “That’s easy to say when a guy goes 3 for 4. He’s on time. Woodruff was really good. The fastball was really good. It had life to the top of the zone. (Rodriguez) was ready to hit.”

Rodriguez hit another single to start the eighth, setting the stage for Reynolds to pinch-hit for Jared Triolo. Reynolds sent J.C. Mejia’s 1-1 sinker 428 feet to right for a two-run shot and 4-0 Pirates lead.

Contreras drew a leadoff walk off Carmen Mlodzinski in the ninth, advanced to second on Santana’s single and to third when Willy Adames grounded into a forceout. He scored when Hayes made an errant throw on Mark Canha’s grounder to third to cut it to 4-1. Mlodzinski got Andruw Monasterio to fly out to end the game.

With the Pirates’ starting rotation in flux, Shelton was thrilled to get a seven-inning start from Oviedo and the run support from Rodriguez.

“They’ve done a nice job. They seem to be in sync,” Shelton said. “And Johan was really good. That’s a good lineup over there, and he kept them off balance the entire game.”