Brewers 8, Pirates 7. Milwaukee started Matt Garza, Pittsburgh Wandy Rodriguez. Rodriguez is older and less-hyped, but they're pretty similar in terms of the level of success they've had in their careers, and have both changed teams fairly recently (Garza has done so twice in the last year).
Both starters were perfect in the first inning, but that was about it as far as pitching went. In the top of the second, Rodriguez allowed a double to Jonathan Lucroy and an RBI single to Khris Davis. Pittsburgh tied it in the bottom of the inning on a similar sequence, with the double coming from the recently-acquired Ike Davis and the single from Neil Walker. Milwaukee went ahead again in the third on a two-out rally that started with a Jean Segura double. Ryan Braun hit into a fielder's poor choice to third - Segura retreated safely to second, and Braun reached first. Aramis Ramirez followed with a go-ahead RBI single, and Lucroy added a run-scoring double for a 3-1 lead. Garza worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning, and the Brewers extended their lead with a Mark Reynolds homer in the fourth.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Pirate offense unloaded. Andrew McCutchen led off with a walk, and Pedro Alvarez reached on a Rickie Weeks error. Jose Tabata singled in a run, and the Pittsburgh Davis walked to load the bases. Walker lined out to right, but Clint Barmes then singled in two runs to tie the game at 4, and Travis Snider hit for Rodriguez and tacked on a go-ahead two-run single of his own. Starling Marte reached on a bunt hit, but Russell Martin hit into a double play to end the inning.
Facing Bryan Morris, Braun led off the fifth with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch, and came the rest of the way around on a pair of groundouts to bring the Brewers to within a run. Pittsburgh would load the bases in the bottom of the inning on singles by Tabata and Pirate Davis and a Walker walk, but Barmes grounded out to end the inning. A Reynolds walk and a single by pinch hitter Jeff Bianchi came to naught in the sixth, largely because Weeks hit into a double play in between them, and the Pirates extended their lead against Rob Wooten in the bottom of the inning when Martin singled and McCutchen doubled him around.
Tony Watson relieved for the Pirates in the seventh, and Braun homered with one out to bring his team back within a run. Wooten was perfect in the seventh, as was Mark Melancon in the eighth. Starling Marte singled and stole second against Jim Henderson in the bottom of the eighth before Martin grounded out to strand him.
As usual, the Pirates turned to Jason Grilli for the save situation. Jean Segura singled with one out, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate in the person of Braun - and Braun hit the first pitch he saw from Grilli over the center field wall for a homer to give the Brewers an 8-7 lead. Francisco Rodriguez hit Alvarez, but got a game-ending double play from Tabata.
This game had some nifty back-and-forth early, followed by a ninth-inning lead change. More significantly, it produced an exemplary performance from Braun - 3 for 5 with two homers, including a go-ahead 2-run shot in the ninth, and a fielder's choice that produced no outs. It adds up to a WPA of +.882, which is the highest mark to date in Braun's excellent career, and I'm sure that all the Pirate fans present were delighted to witness his big moment, right?
OK, maybe not. But whether they left happy or not, they were certainly treated to an excellent outing of baseball.
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