Pittsburgh Pirates rally to beat Milwaukee Brewers in Starling Marte's return

PITTSBURGH -- Starling Marte received a warm reception Tuesday in his first game after serving an 80-game suspension. Then he and his Pittsburgh Pirates teammates rallied with four runs in the sixth inning to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 at PNC Park.

Home runs by Francisco Cervelli and Josh Harrison fueled the Pittsburgh uprising after Milwaukee took a 3-0 lead. David Freese's run-scoring single was the deciding hit.

Much of the pregame anticipation centered on the fans' reaction to Marte's return. Would the Pirates left fielder find forgiveness for his absence, the result of testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug? Would any measurable scorn be tossed his way?

Marte pre-empted the drama, however, with a sliding catch of Ryan Braun's soft line drive to end the top of the first inning. That drew cheers from many of the same fans who lustily booed Braun, as they have ever since he served time himself (65 games) in 2013 for a PED offense.

But fans are always more forgiving of their own. When Marte led off in the bottom of the first, the reaction registered far more positive than negative. He popped out to first base, but singled leading off the fourth, the first hit off right-hander Junior Guerra. Then, after advancing to second on Andrew McCutchen's long fly ball, Guerra picked him off.

"I'm not going to lie," Marte said through a translator. "Going out there, right when I went out to the field, I had different thoughts on how they were going to receive me. However, once I saw how they received me, the love, the applause, all of that, it just made me feel even more focused and made me feel more loved and I appreciate that."

Travis Shaw's three-run homer off Pirates right-hander Ivan Nova (10-6) in the third inning was the extent of the Brewers' offense.

A.J. Schugel, Daniel Hudson and Felipe Rivero helped keep Milwaukee quiet after Nova was lifted for a pinch hitter in the sixth.

Cervelli homered leading off the sixth for the first Pirates run. With two outs, Marte walked and Harrison homered to tie the game at 3.

"Things changed real quick," Guerra said through a translator. "And that's part of the game."

Said Harrison: "I think that third time through (the batting order), we were able to work him."

Guerra, reinstated Tuesday from the 10-day disabled list, was replaced at that point. Oliver Drake (3-3) entered and walked McCutchen, gave up a single to Josh Bell and yielded Freese's go-ahead single.

After the Brewers put two on with one out the ninth, Rivero fanned Domingo Santana and Eric Thames for his eighth save.

NOTES: Brewers C Stephen Vogt went on the 10-day disabled list after sustaining a sprained MCL in a home-plate collision Monday. He is expected to miss at least a month. C Jett Bandy was recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs. ... Pirates RF Gregory Polanco went hitless for the first time in 13 July starts. ... Brewers 3B Travis Shaw and manager Craig Counsell were ejected in the eighth after Shaw took a called third strike.