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MILWAUKEE -- After taking the National League's wild card spot for the last two seasons, the Pittsburgh Pirates would like nothing more than to catch the St. Louis Cardinals for the division crown. But thanks, again, to the Milwaukee Brewers, it doesn't seem likely.
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The Brewers finished off a three-game sweep of the Pirates -- their second of the season -- with a 5-3 victory Thursday night at Miller Park, which has been nothing short of a house of horrors for the Pirates since it opened in 2001.
Pittsburgh is 84-41 at the stadium but, after Thursday, is just 17-61 since the 2007 season.
This year alone, the Pirates dropped seven of nine meetings there; exactly the same number that separates them from the Cardinals in the standings.
"We're ready to move on," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.
Pitching again let the Pirates down. Left-hander Francisco Liriano was tagged for four runs on seven hits and five walks while striking out four.
"It seemed like he was just missing," Hurdle said. "He got some quick outs; he retired 13 guys on three pitches or less.
"A lot of times I thought we were dotting up the glove and we were getting underneath counts. When we were getting underneath counts they were able to get swings on balls later in counts.
"He had six three-ball counts and it didn't look like he was wild by any means. He was working hard. I thought he was making pitches and wasn't getting them. You have to make a better pitch or try to make a better pitch."
He was strong out of the gate, stranding two in the second in third innings but quickly got into trouble in the fourth.
First baseman Jason Rodgers drew a leadoff walk then moved to third on a double by outfielder Domingo Santna and scored on third baseman Hernan Perez's sac fly to center.
Liriano (9-7) worked out of it without further damage but gave up one more in the fifth, on left fielder Khris Davis' double then gave up three straight hits, including a double off the top of the wall in left by third baseman Elian Herrera that put Milwaukee up, 4-1.
"The last couple of starts I've been just missing a little bit," Liriano said. "They are not swinging at it. I'm walking too many guys and not getting ahead in the count. That's the biggest thing for me right now. I'm not able to throw strikes. I'm just missing by a little bit. I have to keep working in my bullpens and get better for my next start."
The lead seemed to be all the cushion right-hander Taylor Jungmann (9-5) needed. The rookie right-hander overcame a slow start to go six innings, holding the Pirates to a run on three hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
He needed 50 pitches to get through his first two innings, but worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second and retired eight in a row before shortstop Jody Mercer hit the first of his two doubles to lead off the fifth.
"Getting out of an inning like that is always huge," Jungmann said. "You try to go in the dugout and clear your head a little and then try to catch a rhythm. I thought I got a pretty good rhythm after that and started getting the fastball down a little bit and getting ahead of guys."
But left-hander Will Smith struggled after taking over in the seventh and allowed five of his six batters to reach base, making it a 4-3 game.
Counsell called on right-hander Tyler Thornburg, who struck out third baseman Aramis Ramirez with the go-ahead run at first to end the inning.
Santana gave Milwaukee a much-needed insurance run with a solo home run in the eighth and right-hander Francisco Rodriguez worked a perfect ninth for his 33rd save of the year.
NOTES: Pittsburgh OF Andrew McCutchen was held out of the lineup Thursday after aggravating an Achilles tendon strain on Wednesday night. ... Brewers starting RHP Taylor Jungmann is the third pitcher in franchise history to post a sub-2.50 ERA in his first 15 career starts. ... The Pirates had won each of LHP Francisco Liriano's last 11 starts prior to Thursday. He has gone 5-0 with a 3.31 ERA during that stretch. ... The Brewers honored Pirates 3B Aramis Ramirez before the game. Ramirez, who spent 3 1/2 seasons with Milwaukee before he was dealt to Pittsburgh in July, announced during spring training that this would be his final season.
