PITTSBURGH (AP) – Vance Worley pitched eight sparkling innings, Russell Martin hit a late RBI single and the Pittsburgh Pirates trapped a runner in the ninth, edging Milwaukee 1-0 Sunday to extend their wild-card lead over the Brewers.
The Pirates leads Milwaukee by 4 1-2 games for the second NL wild-card spot with a week to go. Andrew McCutchen singled and scored in the seventh, helping Pittsburgh take two of three from the Brewers.
Milwaukee totaled just three runs in the series. Carlos Gomez led off the ninth with a single and Rickie Weeks followed with an infield hit, but the speedy Gomez got caught in a rundown and was tagged between second and third.
The Pirates won for the 13th time in 16 games, and closed out their regular season schedule at PNC Park. They finish up playing at Atlanta and Cincinnati, while Milwaukee visits the Reds and hosts the Cubs.
McCutchen led off the seventh with a single against Wily Peralta (16-11), moved to third on a passed ball and wild pitch and scored when Martin’s one-out single slipped through the infield.
Worley (8-4) scattered four hits, walking none and striking out five.
Tony Watson worked the ninth for his first save. He pitched in place of closer Mark Melancon, who had thrown three straight games.
Watson hit Aramis Ramirez with a pitch with two outs, but got Ryan Braun to fly out to center to end it.
Worley briefly lost his spot in the Pittsburgh rotation when Charlie Morton came off the disabled list last week. Morton’s sports hernia flared up after five shutout innings in a win over the Red Sox on Tuesday and Worley stepped back in without missing a beat.
Expertly keeping Milwaukee off-balance, Worley worked efficiently. He needed only 82 pitches to get 24 outs, with 63 of them going for strikes. The Brewers never reached third base and never really threatened to. All four hits off Worley were singles.
Pittsburgh produced just two hits – both infield singles by Josh Harrison – through the first six innings before things briefly got away from Peralta in the seventh.
McCutchen beat out a leadoff single to open the inning and moved to second when catcher Jonathan Lucroy let Peralta’s fastball flick off his glove to the backstop. Peralta’s slider skipped off the dirt and McCutchen scooted to third.
Enter Martin, who put the Pirates in front on Friday night with a three-run homer in the eighth. He came through again, extending his hitting streak to 12 games.
UP NEXT
Brewers: Milwaukee is off Monday and opens a three-game series at Cincinnati on Tuesday. Mike Fiers (6-3, 1.78 ERA) will make his ninth start of the season. Fiers allowed one run in seven innings against St. Louis last week.
Pirates: Pittsburgh begins its season-ending seven-game road trip in Atlanta on Monday. Francisco Liriano (6-10, 3.45 ERA) has allowed three earned runs in his last five starts (33 innings). Liriano is 5-4 with a 2.39 ERA since returning from the disabled list in July.
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