Davies limits damage to stay undefeated in '19

MILWAUKEE -- Zach Davies has had a brilliant start in 2019, and he continued it by setting a Brewers franchise record in Saturday’s 5-3 victory, as he recorded his seventh win through his first seven decisions of the season.

But this one didn’t come as easy as the previous six did.

• Box score

The Pirates made lots of hard contact against Davies to start the game, knocking six hits and forcing him into deep counts early. He had to throw 68 pitches to get through his first three innings of work.

“I think I got away from my game plan a little bit,” Davies said. “Trying to be too fine with things.”

After Davies gave up a two-run shot to Colin Moran in the second inning, the Pirates continued to apply pressure. Davies worked the bases loaded with no outs and appeared to be headed for danger as three consecutive singles brought Pirates cleanup hitter Josh Bell to the plate.

But the game shifted with one pitch.

Davies worked a 3-1 count to Bell and appeared to have walked him, as he threw a two-seamer low, but home plate umpire Jim Wolf called the offering a strike, to the chagrin of Bell and the Pirates.

“The strike zone is the strike zone, you know. Every umpire is a little bit different and you kind of just roll with the punches,” Davies said of the 3-1 pitch. “When you’re out there executing pitches, you can’t really change much about that.”

The at-bat ended with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Bell, giving the Pirates a 3-2 lead, but also a much-needed out. Davies limited the damage in that inning, striking out Moran and getting Corey Dickerson to fly out to end the potentially game-altering inning with just one run allowed.

“It is a spot where the game can get away from a starting pitcher. The other team’s best hitter [up], behind in the count, no outs [and] the bases loaded. And for Zach, he doesn’t let anything change but executing the next pitch,” manager Craig Counsell said. “At that point, it was a 2-2 game. It felt like a really big spot, but it's the third inning. So limiting the damage, we know we got seven more cracks at ‘em and a good chance to score more runs.”

Milwaukee did that, tying the game with Mike Moustakas’ solo homer and taking a 4-3 lead on an RBI single by Ryan Braun. And after surrendering the lead one time, Davies didn’t allow the Pirates to get another chance, as he shut them down in the fourth and fifth innings.

“I think the game plan was the same [as last time vs. Pittsburgh]. The executing pitches and being aggressive early in the count is what got away from me,” he said. “I wanted to stay in the game, at least get through five or six.”

“He was able to push through five and keep us off the plate,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said after the game. “We put a lot of good looks on him to string some things out. I don’t think people give enough credit to how hard it is. He pitched into the ninth inning his last time out, then to come back out that quick and face the same team -- maybe we got better looks, maybe his stuff wasn’t as sharp, maybe it was a combination of both but he still found a way to get through five.”

Davies finished the game tossing five innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits to earn the franchise-record seventh victory in as many decisions.

“I just read that. I think after the season it’ll be a fun time to reflect back on it,” Davies said. “Coming up a game short of the World Series, that’s the goal for us and our focus is on that."

Moose keeps muscling up

Moustakas continued his power surge, clubbing his 19th home run of the season in the third inning to tie the game at 3. It was his third homer in three games.

Moustakas launched the high, towering drive on a 3-1 fastball from Pirates starter Jordan Lyles just past the right-field wall. The homer, which left the bat at a 39-degree launch angle, traveled just 355 feet and produced an expected batting average of .100, according to Statcast.

“Moose is always hitting his homers. That’s just what he does,” Lorenzo Cain said. “It’s definitely good to have when you’re struggling to score runs, to be able to hit some homers. He’s a huge addition to this team.”

The Brewers’ second baseman now has 19 homers through 58 games, one more than he had in 2017, when he hit 18 homers through as many games. Moustakas set his career high that season with 38 long balls for the Royals.