Rookie starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski outdueled second-year star Paul Skenes as the Milwaukee Brewers earned a 4-2 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday to claim the rubber match of a three-game series.

Misiorowski (3-0) struck out a career-high eight in his third major-league start and held Pittsburgh to just two hits, both singles. The 23-year-old who routinely throws 100-mph fastballs has allowed just three hits and two runs in 16 big-league innings.

Reliever Trevor Megill threw a perfect ninth to save Milwaukee’s sixth win in its last seven games.

Skenes (4-7), who entered the day with an MLB-leading 1.85 ERA, allowed four runs on four hits with four strikeouts and two walks in four innings for the Pirates, who have lost four of six.

The Brewers batted around in the second to build a 4-0 lead. After Isaac Collins drew a leadoff walk, Brice Turang and Caleb Durbin followed with singles to center to load the bases with nobody out. Collins scored on Joey Ortiz’s slow chopper along the first-base line to give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead, then Eric Haase blooped a double to center to bring in Turang for a 2-0 lead.

Sal Frelick connected on a splitter that bounced to Pirates second baseman Nick Gonzales, but he overthrew catcher Henry Davis at the plate as Durbin slid in. Christian Yelich increased the lead to four runs with a single to left field that brought in Haase.

Skenes settled down after that — getting the Brewers in order in each of the next two innings — but Milwaukee snapped his streak of nine straight starts allowing two runs or fewer.

Pittsburgh broke the shutout in the seventh off reliever Grant Anderson. With one out, Oneil Cruz sent a sinker to left field and Collins’ error allowed him to get to second. Tommy Pham drove him in with a single to cut it to 4-1.

The Pirates narrowed it to 4-2 in the eighth. Adam Frazier drew a one-out walk and Spencer Horwitz drove him in with a double to right.

–Field Level Media