For a moment, it appeared the Brewers might have been trying to replicate the formula that led them to a 13-inning win over the Pirates on Thursday: get on top early, rally back late. But they couldn't pull it off Friday, not after a promising start from Jimmy Nelson slipped into a frustrating finish.
"I loved that eighth inning, how we put something together," Counsell said. "We got Braunie up there with the bases loaded. That was our shot."
They got that shot because Martin Maldonado and Domingo Santana singled off Pirates reliever Arquimedes Caminero to start the eighth, then Hernan Perez singled in a run off setup man Tony Watson.