Cain hits single in 11th to give Brewers an 8-7 win over Pirates

Cain hits single in 11th to give Brewers win

MILWAUKEE — Lorenzo Cain will remain a humble rookie, even after knocking in his first game-winning run.

After giving the Brewers an 8-7 victory Saturday night with an 11th-inning single, Cain took a little ribbing in the clubhouse.

“Don’t get cocky,” Brewers bench coach Willie Randolph shouted to Cain. The 24-year-old center fielder, surrounded by a group of reporters, responded, “You don’t have to worry about that.”

“It’s an awesome feeling,” said Cain, who has six RBIs in 20 games in two stints with the club this season. He was recalled on Aug. 6 from Triple-A Nashville, taking the roster spot of Carlos Gomez, who went on the 15-day disabled list with a concussion.

Ryan Braun led off the 11th with a single off Wil Ledezma (0-1) and advanced a base when second baseman Neil Walker bobbled Prince Fielder’s sharp grounder for an error. Casey McGehee flied out to left before Cain hit a line drive to left for the hit.

Even though the defense was in an exaggerated shift for Fielder, Walker knew it was a play he had to make.

“I probably tried to do too much,” Walker said of Fielder’s hot shot. “You’re in a little bit different position with Fielder up in a shift-type position, but regardless, I’ve got to catch the ball and try to get the lead runner and at the very least get the out at first. And I didn’t do either of those. … I take the blame.”

Milwaukee rallied from three runs down to tie it in the seventh.

Fielder hit his second homer of the game, a two-run shot off Pirates reliever Brian Burres. Cain reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch by reliever Chan Ho Park. He scored on Pedro Alvarez’s error to tie it at 7 with two outs.

Pirates manager John Russell attributed the defensive mistakes to the inexperience of his team.

“Those were both tough plays, but they both show our youth a little bit,” Russell said. “We just couldn’t hang on to the lead and we couldn’t get the big hit later.”

Kameron Loe (3-3) picked up the win after pitching a scoreless 11th.

Pittsburgh has dropped 12 in a row on the road.

Fielder also had a solo shot in the third for his 20th career two-homer game and his third this season. Twenty-three of Fielder’s 28 home runs this season have come with the bases empty.

“He has pop, so that’s always a good thing,” Cain said of his team’s slugging first baseman.

Jonathan Lucroy hit a solo shot in the sixth.

Chris Snyder, Jose Tabata and Walker all homered for the Pirates, who squandered a 7-4 lead in the seventh.

Tabata began the scoring in the first with his fourth homer. After Milwaukee responded with two in the bottom half, Pittsburgh took the lead in the second when Milwaukee starter Chris Capuano issued a bases-loaded walk to Andrew McCutchen and a run-scoring single to Tabata.

Capuano lasted only three innings while allowing six runs on six hits. The 32-year-old lefty was making his third start of the season after replacing Manny Parra in the rotation.

In an effort to protect Capuano’s arm, Brewers manager Ken Macha hoped to get five innings from his starter without exceeding 80 pitches.

Pittsburgh foiled that plan as Capuano labored through three innings while throwing 75 pitches.

Notes: Pirates optioned LHP Justin Thomas to Triple-A Indianapolis and recalled RHP Charlie Morton, who will make his 11th start of the season on Sunday for Pittsburgh. … Tabata’s first inning homer extended his hitting streak to seven. … The Brewers have won 27 of their last 29 home games against the Pirates (43-85).