Pirates rally from double-digit deficit but fall to Brewers to snap 4-game winning streak

The Milwaukee Brewers spotted Corbin Burnes a double-digit lead as he silenced the Pittsburgh Pirates’ hot bats and took a perfect game into the sixth inning.

Jack Suwinski broke up Burnes’ no-hit bid in the sixth, then hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to spark a six-run rally that turned a blowout into a barnburner.

Then a 33-minute rain delay in the top of the ninth inning interrupted the Pirates’ momentum, and the Brewers held on for an 11-8 win Saturday afternoon before 35,246 at PNC Park.

The start of the game was delayed 41 minutes because of weather concerns, and a downpour interrupted the top of the ninth for another 33-minute stoppage after Pirates reliever Yerry De Los Santos got the first out.

“It’s hard to say because the momentum in baseball is based on pitching,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “When you have a crowd that’s this big and you score six runs and they get into it, yeah, there is some momentum. Then Yerry goes out and gets the first out really quickly. It stifled it a little bit.”

Burnes (6-5) didn’t allow a runner through five innings before walking Jared Triolo, then had his no-hit and shutout bids broken up by Suwinski with a two-out, two-run single.

The only no-hitter in PNC Park history was thrown by the Cincinnati Reds’ Homer Bailey in a 1-0 win Sept. 28, 2012.

After recording a 3.23 ERA in five starts in June, Pirates right-hander Johan Oviedo gave up eight runs on nine hits and three walks with one strikeout in five innings. It was the most runs allowed and fewest strikeouts Oviedo has had in 17 starts this season and marked his fourth consecutive start that ended with him taking the loss.

Oviedo (3-9) got off to an ominous start when he walked leadoff batter Christian Yelich, who advanced to third on a Willy Adames single and scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Rowdy Tellez for a 1-0 lead.

The Brewers added five more runs in the second inning. Brian Anderson hit a leadoff single and scored from third when Blake Perkins hit into a forceout at second. Yelich crushed a 1-0 slider 422 feet to right for a three-run homer to make it 5-0. Jesse Winker drew a walk, advanced to third on an Adames double and scored on Tellez’s groundout to stretch the Brewers lead to 6-0.

“My plan was to just limit damage,” Oviedo said, “but it didn’t work out the way I want to.”

The Pirates hit Burnes hard but couldn’t get anything to fall, with five lineouts — four with exit velocities of 100 mph or faster — in the first five innings. Burnes cruised through the first five innings on 58 pitches and took a perfect game into the sixth.

“He had his stuff going,” Pirates left fielder Josh Palacios said. “He made his pitches. He was around the zone. He was kind of putting the ball where he wanted to put it. You have to tip your hat. It happens. He’s a good pitcher. It happens sometimes. It was good that the boys didn’t give up, and we locked in.”

After Oviedo gave up back-to-back singles to start the sixth, Roansy Contreras walked Yelich to load the bases with no outs. Winker hit a bases-clearing double to center for a 9-0 lead, and Victor Caratini added a two-out single up the middle to score Winker and make it 10-0.

The long inning backfired on Burnes, who lost his perfect game in the sixth with a four-pitch walk of leadoff batter Triolo followed by a full-count walk of Ji Hwan Bae to start a 33-pitch frame. With two outs, Burnes hit Andrew McCutchen on the left elbow to load the bases. Suwinski’s two-run single to right scored Triolo and Bae to cut it to 10-2.

“Our guys continued to grind,” Shelton said. “Triolo had a good at-bat, Bae had a good at-bat, Jack gets the hit and they just kept going.”

Raimel Tapia fouled off six balls in an 11-pitch at-bat in the seventh before sending a Contreras curveball 368 feet to right for his third home run and an 11-2 Brewers lead.

Lefty Clayton Andrews replaced Burnes in the eighth, making his major-league debut. Jason Delay doubled and scored on a single by Palacios to cut it to 11-3, and Suwinski sent a 2-0 fastball 420 feet to center for his 17th home run to make it 11-5.

After Connor Joe drew a walk and Henry Davis singled, the Brewers brought in former Pirates righty Bryse Wilson. Tucupita Marcano dropped a fly ball past a diving Yelich in left for a two-run triple to make it 11-7, then scored on Triolo’s double off the Clemente Wall to trim the deficit to three runs.

“We had some really good at-bats there,” Palacios said. “We had some walks. We had some hard-hit balls and really put the pressure on the pitcher. The electricity in here gets contagious. Once one guy starts hitting, we all start feeling better and starts rolling, everybody starts cheering for each other.”

Then the rain came pouring down, and the tarp covered the field. Following the delay, the Pirates looked for another ninth-inning comeback after beating Milwaukee, 8-7, on Carlos Santana’s walk-off home run on Friday night.

But Brewers reliever Joel Payamps got pinch hitter Nick Gonzales to ground out to third and Palacios to ground out to second before striking out McCutchen to end the game.

“I was proud of our group,” Shelton said. “We were down 11-2, and it was 11-8 at the end of the game. They continued to battle, so I’m really proud of how they continued to go, regardless of the circumstances.”