Russell Branyan's three-run homer not enough to rally Indians past Pirates.
UPDATED: 11:37 p.m.
Indians center fielder Trevor Crowe (left) grabs a bouncing ball as left fielder Austin Kearns runs past in the third inning Saturday night in Pittsburgh. The Pirates' Neil Walker was credited with a single.PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- David Huff couldn't find a way to get Lastings Milledge out Saturday night at PNC Park.
The Pirates' 12-game losing streak is history because of it as they beat the Indians, 6-4, in front of a sellout crowd of 38,000. Milledge had three hits and four RBI in his first three at-bats.
Russell Branyan put the Indians back into the game in the sixth with a three-run homer off the right-field foul pole. It cut the Pirates' lead to 5-4 and knocked starter Jeff Karstens (2-2, 4.72) out of the game.
After Trevor Crowe and Shin-Soo Choo started the inning with singles, Crowe was forced at third by Austin Kearns' grounder. Branyan followed with his ninth homer as he drove a 1-2 pitch down the right-field line.
The Indians proceeded to load the bases on singles by Jhonny Peralta and Mike Redmond and a walk by Jason Donald. Reliever Evan Meek, the third Pirate pitcher to work the inning, retired pinch-hitter Travis Hafner on a bouncer back to the mound to end the inning.
In the eighth, Peralta almost tied it with a long drive to right center that bounced off the fence for a one-out double. But pinch-hitter Shelley Duncan struck out and Mike Redmond lined out to right to end the inning.
The Pirates added an insurance run in the eighth on Garret Jones' two-out single off Rafael Perez to make it 6-4. Andrew McCutchen scored after hitting a two-out triple off Frank Herrmann. The run was the first Herrmann allowed in 34 innings between Cleveland and Class AAA Columbus.
Octavio Dotel pitched the ninth for his 13th save.
Milledge wore out Huff (2-9, 6.04) and gave the Pirates a 5-1 lead at the same time. In the fifth, Milledge doubled to the fence in center to score McCutchen for a 4-1 lead. McCutchen reached on a walk, Huff's fifth of the night.
Rookie Pedro Alvarez, the Pirates' No.1 pick in 2008, followed with another double to make it 5-1. It was Alvarez's first big-league hit and RBI. Huff worked his way through the rest of the inning, but he was done for the night.
The Pirates took a 3-1 lead on Milledge's two-run triple in the third. Right fielder Shin-Soo Choo could have played it on the bounce and held Milledge to a single, and perhaps prevented the second run from scoring, but he dove for the ball and it bounced past him into the corner as McCutchen and Jones scored.
Huff stranded Milledge at third, but he was far from his best. Neil Walker started the third with a single to left center that fell between Crowe and Kearns. McCutchen singled Walker to third, but he was caught in a rundown between third and home when Jones grounded to first to bring Milledge to the plate.
The Indians took a 1-0 lead in the first when Crowe opened with a single and sprinted to third on Choo's double off the wall in left. Kearns scored Crowe with a grounder to short as Choo took third. Russell Branyan sent a grounder to first with Choo going on contact. Jones threw Choo out on a close play at home.
The Pirates tied it with two out in the first. Huff retired the first two batters, but walked the next two, McCutchen and Jones. Milledge chopped a single over the mound to short. He beat Jason Donald's throw with a headfirst slide as McCutchen slid home just ahead of Branyan's throw and Mike Redmond's tag.
Huff, who has won one game in his last 11 starts, allowed five runs on six hits in five innings. He labored, walking six and throwing 104 pitches. Last year Huff threw eight scoreless innings against the Pirates. He was a long way from repeating that performance Saturday night.
In his last two starts, he's allowed 11 earned runs, 12 hits and nine walks in 10 2/3 innings.