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PITTSBURGH -- Yovani Gallardo has spent much of his career toying with the Pittsburgh Pirates. On Wednesday night, the Pirates finally found a way to flip the script on their nemesis. Neil Walker laced a two-run single off the Milwaukee right-hander in the sixth inning, Wandy Rodriguez pitched seven strong innings and the Pirates beat the Brewers 3-1 on Wednesday. Gallardo (3-3) came in 7-0 in his last eight starts against the Pirates but was outdueled by Rodriguez and outsmarted by Walker, who guessed right when he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. "He has to come to you," Walker said. "He has to throw strikes and if you stay in your own approach and dont go chasing pitchers pitches and more often than not youre going to at least hit a barrel." When the switch-hitting Walker, batting left-handed, saw the cutter he was expecting, he slapped it up the middle for his first RBIs in nearly a month. The second baseman came off the 15-day disabled list with a hand injury on Monday then gave the Pirates the jolt they needed to post consecutive victories over the Brewers for the first time in nearly four years. "These are important moving forward for confidence," Walker said. "But being at home here, we feel like it doesnt matter who we play, we need to take advantage of that home field advantage." The Pirates moved six games above .500 for the first time this season with the victory. Rodriguez (4-2), who was knocked around by the Brewers when he faced them last month, responded by expertly working himself out of trouble spots the first four innings before eventually giving away to Pittsburghs red-hot bullpen. Rodriguez (4-2) gave up six hits, walking one and striking out five then watched Jason Grilli worked the ninth for his National League-leading 16th save. "It was the start we needed, a little bit better than their guy," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. "Their guy was good too." Gallardo almost always is when he faces Pittsburgh. He entered the game with a 10-2 lifetime record against the Pirates and was solid enough to make it 11-2 after surrendering three hits over six innings, walking four and striking out four. He just received little help offensively. Rickie Weeks hit his third homer to provide Milwaukees only run. Norichika Aoki had two hits for the Brewers but couldnt stop Milwaukee from falling to 2-10 in its last 12 games. "Guys are giving it all they have," Gallardo said. "Its not like were trying hard. Its just the way the game is, sometimes. Youve just got to keep grinding it out." Milwaukee has dominated the Pirates over the last six years, winning 73 per cent of the meetings between the two clubs and knocked Rodriguez around during his last start against the Brewers two weeks ago. The left-hander was rocked for seven runs in 4 2-3 innings of an eventual 10-4 loss on April 29. Things were decidedly smoother this time around. Working both sides of the plate, Rodriguez kept the Brewers off balance and buckled down when pressed. Milwaukee put runners in scoring position in each of the first four innings but had nothing to show for it. No missed opportunity loomed larger than the one the Brewers created in the fourth when Jonathan Lucroy led off with a triple to right. Rodriguez induced Carlos Gomez and Weeks to hit harmless infield flies before Alex Gonzalez rolled a routine grounder to shortstop to end the threat. "He picked it up and laid it down for us and he battled from start to finish," Hurdle said. Gallardo was just as sharp. Pittsburgh managed just one hit through the first six innings before Starling Marte doubled to centre leading off the sixth. Andrew McCutchen and Gaby Sanchez worked one out walks to load the bases to set up Walkers tiebreaking single. The hit ended an 0-for-23 skid with runners in scoring position by the Pirates and was just enough to deal Gallardo a rare loss to Pittsburgh "The pitch was off the plate and below the knees," Gallardo said. "Sometimes, youve got to tip your cap to the hitter. I threw it where I wanted to throw." Weeks drew the Brewers within a run in the seventh with a homer to the bleachers in left field off Rodriguez but baseballs best one-two punch out of the bullpen shut the door. Set-up man Mark Melancon retired the Brewers in order in the eighth and Grilli did the same in the ninth as Pittsburgh remained undefeated (17-0) when leading after seven innings. The Pirates gave Grilli a little extra cushion in the eighth when McCutchen scored from third after Weeks threw wide of first after making a diving stop on a grounder by Walker. NOTES: Pittsburgh recalled INF Jordy Mercer on Wednesday after placing John McDonald on the 15-day disabled list with a bad back. Mercer started at shortstop and went 1 for 2 ... The Brewers plan to call up veteran reliever Francisco Rodriguez on Thursday. The 31-year-old Rodriguez signed a minor-league deal with the Brewers in April. The four-time All-Star went 2-7 with a 4.38 ERA in 78 games with Milwaukee in 2012 ... ... Umpire Fieldin Culbreth worked at third base on Wednesday night. He left Tuesday nights game after being struck in the neck with a ball ... The series concludes on Thursday. Hiram Burgos (1-1, 6.86 ERA) starts for the Brewers against Pittsburghs Francisco Liriano (1-0, 1.69). Ivan Rodriguez Rangers Jersey . Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. Johnny Oates Rangers Jersey . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. He was dismissed by the team last March after the Lightning struggled in the lockout-shortened season with a 13-18-1 record. https://www.cheaprangersbaseball.com/2932h-jim-fregosi-jersey-rangers.html .com) - The women will also have a new champion at the Australian Open. Stitched Rangers Jerseys . After Gasquet beat fifth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-5, 6-3, Tsonga followed up with a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2 win against sixth-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin in an all-French match. Zack Granite Jersey . -- The goal posts lying flat on the field, Arizonas fans lingered on the field, congregating around the locker room entrance nearly 30 minutes after rushing out of the stands. GUELPH, Ont. -- It was the wettest game that Edmonton quarterback Mike Reilly has ever played in, and thats saying something for a guy who played his college football in the rainy state of Washington. "Ive never seen it come down like that, especially for the entire game," said the 28-year-old who led the Eskimos to a 30-20 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday night with two touchdown throws and a 12-yard TD rush in a torrential downpour. "Its tough. The ball gets heavy. Its getting slippery," he said, likening it to trying to catch a watermelon. Edmonton had already jumped out to a 16-0 lead before the rains came and the Ticats were forced to play catch up in awful conditions. That early lead was a "huge" advantage, according to Reilly. "When the weather hit, then it was just a chess match of back and forth and field position," he said. "And at that point in time, if you got a ball in the end zone, then you feel pretty lucky." Reilly completed 14-of-22 pass attempts for 130 yards. It was the Ticats home opener at Alumni Stadium, home to the University of Guelph Gryphons, which was temporarily expanded this season to seat a capacity 13,000 while a new stadium is built in Hamilton. Game attendance for the home opener was announced as 12,612, but most of those made a run for it when the rains came heavy in the second quarter. Hugh Charles had two touchdowns and Fred Stamps added one for Edmonton while CJ Gable and Ed Gant scored for Hamilton. Hamilton kicker Luca Congi made two of three field-goal attempts, from 39 and 26 yards and missed from 42. Edmonton improved to 1-1 after a 39-18 loss to Saskatchewan last week. After putting up 34 points in last weeks 39-34 loss to Toronto, the Ticats (0-2) could only muster 20 points in the weather. "They played with more energy than us," said Hamilton QB Henry Burris, who completed 18-of-35 pass attempts for 229 yards, one TD and two interceptions. "Weve got to do a better job of seizing momentum when we get some momentum. We killed ourselves with penalties. I had the turnover when we were backed up. "Regardless of what conditions we plaay in, this is football and youre going to have days like this when theres going to be rain.dddddddddddd But weve got to be able to respond better than that." Twice, early in the first quarter, Hamilton first downs were called back by offside penalties to receiver Simon Charbonneau-Campeau. Coach Kent Austin was quick to point out, however, that those two penalties werent specifically what cost the Ticats. But they were an example. "Thats the perfect example of two mistakes where we (could) stay on the football field (but) where they get us off the football field," he said. Hamilton had five fumbles on the night -- four of them by Lindsey Lamar on returns, of which he lost one -- and two interceptions. Edmonton fumbled three times and lost it once. Congi hit field goals from 39 and 26 yards as the Ticats picked away at the lead during a second quarter where the field was barely playable. Edmonton led 16-13 at the half. Charles looked to be in the dog house when he fumbled the opening kickoff and the Ticats recovered at the Edmonton 40-yard line. But they couldnt convert as Congi missed a 42-yard field-goal attempt and Edmonton ran it out. The Esks scored on the ensuing possession as Charles redeemed himself with a 70-yard TD run. After scoring a safety followed by an 11-yard TD grab by Stamps to finish a 61-yard, five-play drive, Hamiltons Gable drove the ball in from the two-yard line to cap a 38-yard drive. He was aided by two penalties against Edmonton including pass interference in the end zone to make it 16-7 before the downpour came to end the quarter. Neither team got much going to start the second half as the rain continued to pour. But Edmontons TJ Hill intercepted Burris midway through the third quarter on the Hamilton 27 and the Esks needed three plays before Reilly found Charles for the 13-yard score. Edmonton led 23-13 heading into the fourth. Five minutes into the fourth, Reilly capped an 83-yard drive with a 12-yard TD run giving Edmonton a 30-13 lead. The Ticats answered with Gant, who showed up in Hamilton from Edmonton just this week, catching a 40-yard TD pass from Burris to pull to 30-20 with 6:22 left. ' ' '