MILWAUKEE – Rickie Weeks homered late to snap a tie for the second straight game, hitting a two-run shot in the eighth Saturday night to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Weeks, the Brewers’ top draft pick in 2003, hit a three-run home run in the seventh on Friday night with the score tied at 4 and Milwaukee went on to beat Pittsburgh 8-4.
On Saturday, Weeks ruined a sparkling major-league debut for Pittsburgh left-hander Zach Duke, who gave up three runs on five hits while striking out nine in seven innings.
Salomon Torres (2-4) relieved Duke in the eighth with the game tied 3-3. Lyle Overbay singled leading off the inning and Brady Clark sacrificed him to second.
Weeks followed with a 419-foot drive into the left-field bleachers and just inside the foul pole. He gave a curtain call after the third homer of his young career.
Weeks has hit in 15 of 20 games since being called up on June 10.
Derrick Turnbow pitched the ninth for his 15th save. Ricky Bottalico (2-1) pitched a perfect eighth for the win.
Pittsburgh built a 3-0 lead on single runs in the first three innings, getting RBI hits from Jason Bay, Matt Lawton and Jose Castillo.
Milwaukee’s Bill Hall atoned for an error that led to one of the runs with a two-run home run in the fourth that made it 3-2. Hall’s 13th home run was the second hit allowed by Duke.
The Brewers tied it at three in the fifth on an RBI single by pinch-hitter Trent Durrington.
Brewers left fielder Carlos Lee, the NL’s RBI leader who left Friday night’s game early with a knee bruise, started and went o-for-4.
Brewers starter Victor Santos gave up three runs, two earned, in five innings.
Notes: Jenkins’ first-inning throwing error was his third of the season in right field. Last season, as a left fielder, he had just one error. … The Brewers drew their millionth fan in their 38th home game Saturday, equaling the second quickest the team has hit the million mark in team history. The team needed just 31 home games in 2001, the first year of Miller Park, to draw 1 million fans. Milwaukee also topped the 1 million mark in its 38th home game in 1983 at County Stadium. … CF Rob Mackowiak made a full-extension diving catch in right-center to retire Damian Miller in the fourth.
AP-ES-07-02-05 2208EDT
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.