MILWAUKEE– William Contreras went 3 for 5 with four RBIs and hit one of Milwaukee’s five homers off Martín Pérez in the Brewers’ 10-2 defeat of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.
The NL Central-leading Brewers won two of three games from the Pirates before opening a season-long nine-game road trip Friday in Houston. The Brewers will also visit Miami and Boston before returning home May 27 for a four-game series with the Chicago Cubs that marks former Brewers manager Craig Counsell’s return to Milwaukee.
“I like the guys, I really do,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “I really like them. They care. They’re hungry. I love hungry players.”
Gary Sánchez, Sal Frelick, Joey Ortiz and Jackson Chourio also homered for Pérez, who gave up 11 hits and nine runs before leaving with no one in the sixth inning. Chourio’s home run traveled 441 feet and Ortiz’s blast reached 425 feet.
“It’s fun,” Ortiz said. “Insisting so much on someone is a good day. It’s definitely exciting.”
Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen went 3-for-4, singled and scored both of the Pirates’ runs.
The Brewers tied the franchise record for home runs by a single pitcher in a game. They also hit five home runs off Cincinnati’s Chris Reitsma in 2002 and Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene in 2022.
This was the Brewers’ first five-home run game since their 9-0 defeat of the New York Mets on April 4, 2023. The Pirates have not allowed up to five home runs in a game since July 6, 2022, when they gave up gained six in a 16-0 loss to the New York Yankees.
The Brewers nearly went deep for the sixth time. Pirates center fielder Michael A. Taylor reached his left arm over the wall to rob Willy Adames of a home run in the eighth inning.
Contreras put Milwaukee ahead for good with a three-run home run in the third, and also singled in the fifth and tripled in the seventh. Contreras has gone 17-for-36 during a nine-game hitting streak and is now hitting .359 with a .434 on-base percentage.
“It leaves me speechless, honestly,” Ortiz said. “It’s very unreal to see him hit.”
Before Wednesday, Pérez had allowed just three homers all season while working 45 innings.
“Today he was in the center of the plate the whole game and so the changeup wasn’t as effective as it was before,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “He left some of them up there. And when you leave the changes enabled, they will hit.”
Five days after allowing just two hits in six shutout innings in his major league debut, Brewers starter Robert Gasser (2-0) gave up just one run in five innings while allowing eight hits. Gasser struck out two and walked one.
The team said Gasser is the first pitcher in Brewers history to earn a win in each of his first two major league starts.
TRANSACTIONS
The Brewers promoted outfielder Chris Roller from Triple-A Nashville and optioned infielder Oliver Dunn to Nashville. They also reinstated Taylor Clarke from the 15-day injured list and optioned him to Nashville.
The Pirates recalled pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski from Triple-A Indianapolis and signed pitcher Quinn Priester to Indianapolis.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brewers first baseman Rhys Hoskins says he is planning to travel with the team on its nine-game road trip that begins this weekend, even though he is on the injured list after straining his right hamstring on Monday. Hoskins is expected to miss two to four weeks.
“I’ve been around enough guys with hamstring issues to know that they’re very fickle and everyone is so, so different,” Hoskins said. “So I think overall two to four weeks is a lot better than it could have been. I’m bummed and disappointed that I won’t be there with these guys as we’re trying to continue to rack up some wins and some series wins.”
NEXT
Pirates: Begin a four-game series with the Chicago Cubs on Thursday. Jared Jones (2-4, 2.68 ERA) will start for the Pirates in the opener.
Brewers: Thursday off before starting a three-game series in Houston. Freddy Peralta (3-1, 3.63) will start for the Brewers on Friday.
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