MILWAUKEE — In a season filled with disappointments, the Pittsburgh Pirates delivered another flop Wednesday afternoon, falling to the Milwaukee Brewers by a final score of 4-2 at American Family Field.

The contest had plenty of buildup throughout the week. A pitching showdown between Paul Skenes and rookie phenom Jacob Misiorowski generated a slew of national attention and produced the Brewers’ first weekday sellout of a non-holiday home game since 2011. But when the action started, only one club showed up to play.

Misiorowski continued his dominant tear, allowing just two hits and two walks over five scoreless innings to earn his third major league win in as many starts. Skenes, meanwhile, disappointed, allowing four runs over four innings to fall to 4-7 on the season.

Milwaukee did all of its damage against the Pirates ace in the bottom of the second inning.

Isaac Collins started the frame with a walk, which was followed by singles from Brice Turang and Caleb Durbin to load the bases with no outs. Joey Ortiz, who homered twice Tuesday evening, brought home the game’s first run with a fielder’s choice groundout to the mound. Eric Haase kept the rally going with a double to shallow center field in the next at-bat, which scored Turang.

Sal Frelick plated the third run on a ground ball to second base. Nick Gonzales fielded the roller clean but delivered a wild throw to the plate, making the score 3-0. Christian Yelich singled home the fourth and final run of the frame two at-bats later. The four runs were the most Skenes has allowed in one inning at any level as a professional.

Misiorowski, meanwhile, had no such troubles. Pitching on four days' rest for the first time as a big leaguer, the 23-year-old right-hander dominated the Pirates lineup, striking out a career-high eight batters. 42,774 fans cheered as the youngster overpowered Don Kelly’s lineup with a fastball that topped out at 100.2 mph.

Pittsburgh had better luck against the Brewers bullpen. Tommy Pham gave the Pirates their first run two innings after Misiorowski’s day ended, singling home Oneil Cruz, who reached on an error by Collins in left field. That run, which was unearned, was allowed by right-hander Grant Anderson, who was one of four relievers Brewers manager Pat Murphy utilized in the game.

Spencer Horwitz made the game even tighter in the top of the eighth with a two-out double to right field that plated Adam Frazier, cutting Milwaukee’s lead in half. But no further drama ensued. The score remained 4-2 when Brewers reliever Abner Uribe finished the top of the eighth by getting Gonzales to fly out to center field. Trevor Megill then finished the job in the ninth, recording his 18th save of the season.

It was over when ...

... Gonzales’ throw home sailed wide, allowing the Brewers’ third run to score. That lead proved to be too much for the Pirates to overcome with Misiorowski on the hill.

On the mound

While Skenes’ line wasn’t pretty, he was also plagued by some poor luck. Ortiz’s RBI came on a weak, well-placed grounder that had just a 35.8 mph exit velocity. Had the ball been hit harder, the Pirates would’ve likely had an opportunity to attempt a throw home and cut down the lead runner.

The same could be said for Haase’s knock that scored the game’s second run. The Brewers catcher delivered a weak fly ball with an exit velocity of 67.2 mph to shallow center. Cruz rushed to make the catch in shallow center field, but his diving attempt was unsuccessful, allowing Turang to score and Haase to advance into scoring position. Hard contact from Frelick and Yelich allowed the next two runs to score.

Despite throwing just 78 pitches, Skenes was replaced by Mike Burrows at the start of the fifth inning. The Pirates rookie right-hander delivered 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing no hits, walking one and recording one strikeout.

At the plate

The Pirates tallied just four hits Wednesday. Horwitz’s RBI double was the lone hit that went for extra bases. Kelly’s club struck out 13 times, went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.

Most valuable player

Misiorowski, who outpitched Skenes to earn his third win of the season.

Up next

Following an off day on Thursday, the Pirates will start a three-game weekend series against the Mets on Friday at PNC Park. First pitch for that contest is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET. Neither team has announced its projected starter on the mound.

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