Brewers' collapse continues, lose 6-4 to Pirates

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PITTSBURGH - The Milwaukee Brewers lost their ninth straight game last night, 6-to-4 at Pittsburgh.

Milwaukee was up by one in the seventh inning when Garrett Jones singled to right to tie the contest. Ryan Doumit drove in the game-winning with a bloop hit to shallow center. Randy Wolf took the loss, giving up all six Pirate runs on 10 hits in six-and-a-third innings, with five walks and three strikeouts. Wolf took the blame afterward, saying he should have held the lead and didn’t. And Ryan Braun took the blame for what he called a “stupid” base-running mistake in the ninth. He stole second while a shift was on for Prince Fielder. And after a moment, Braun started to take off for an unoccupied third base when Andy La Roche did a reverse-spin move and tagged him out as he tried to get back to second. Casey McGehee had a solo home run and an RBI single, and Alcides Escobar had a double and two singles for the Brewers. Steve Pearce doubled twice with an RBI for Pittsburgh, which has won four-of-its-last-six. The Brewers and Pirates will close out their two-game series tonight at PNC Park. Left-hander Chris Narveson faces Pirates’ left-hander Paul Maholm.

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Brewers’ closer Trevor Hoffman is being held out, while he spends a couple days working with pitching coach Rick Peterson on his mechanics. Manager Ken Macha said the all-time saves leader has been having trouble with a high angle on his arm. And Peterson says Hoffman has not had much of a chance to correct it, because he needs to be available to pitch every day if needed. The 42-year-old Hoffman has blown 5-of-10 save chances this season, while his ERA has mushroomed to 13.15. On Tuesday, Hoffman gave up three runs without retiring a batter in the ninth inning at Cincinnati, and the Reds came back from two runs down to beat the Brewers. Macha said Hoffman’s pitching status would be re-evaluated tomorrow. He said Peterson would decide when Hoffman is ready to return to a game. For now, Macha says he does not have an exact choice as a substitute closer. The manager says Hoffman feels bad about the losses he has caused – and he’ll do whatever the team asks.

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Brewers’ center-fielder Carlos Gomez went 1-for-3 last night in his first rehab game for the Class-“A” Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Gomez also stole a base, as the Rattlers lost to Peoria 11-7 near Appleton. He’ll play another game for the Rattlers today – and if all goes well, he’ll re-join the Brewers tomorrow night at Minnesota. Gomez went on the disabled list after he injured his left shoulder while sliding back to second base at the end of a rundown. Meanwhile, third baseman Mat Gamel was sick last night, and could not begin a rehab assignment with Class-“A” Brevard County. He’s coming off a shoulder injury.

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