WJPA Sports

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Dustin May won his Milwaukee debut and Jackson Chourio and Gary Sánchez hit home runs as the Brewers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 on Thursday afternoon.  After losing the opener, the Brewers (72-43) won the final three games in the series.  May (6-7), acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals in a trade deadline deal on Monday, turned in a quality start, giving up two runs and three hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out five in the 97-pitch outing.  The Brewers jumped out early on Chourio’s 15th homer of the season, a solo shot off Braxton Ashcraft (11-5) with one out in the first.  The Brewers extended the lead to 2-0 in third when David Hamilton walked, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Cooper Pratt’s sacrifice fly.  Brandon Lowe’s lead-off homer in the fourth, the first hit surrendered by May, put the Pirates on the board. Spencer Horwitz’s run-scoring single later in the inning tied it.   Milwaukee regained the lead in the fifth. Sánchez hit a solo homer and Brice Turang had a run-scoring single following a double from Pratt.  The Brewers extended the lead to 5-2 in the sixth when Garrett Mitchell snapped a 0-for-18 streak with a leadoff double and scored on Andrew Vaughn’s single.  DL Hall, Aaron Ashby and Chad Patrick, who notched his fifth save, combined to pitch three scoreless innings to close it out.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have cut ties with veteran designated hitter Marcell Ozuna as they gear up for a playoff push. The club released the 35-year-old Ozuna following a nightmarish stretch in which the three-time All-Star could never seem to get on track. Ozuna hit eight homers and drove in 29 runs while batting .203 in 70 games with Pittsburgh. The Pirates, who are chasing their first postseason berth in more than a decade, promoted outfielder Ronny Simon from Triple-A Indianapolis to take Ozuna’s roster spot.

Carson Beck makes his NFL debut and Kenny Pickett starts for his fifth team in four years. Welcome to the NFL preseason. If you want to see starters play, wait until next month when the games count in the standings. Or watch joint practices. The exhibition schedule kicks off Thursday night with Beck and the Arizona Cardinals facing Pickett and the Carolina Panthers in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. The preseason is an opportunity for rookies, backups and players fighting for roster spots to get snaps and showcase what they can do. Most first-round picks won’t play much.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aaron Donald has formally worked out for the Los Angeles Rams. That’s presumably one of the final steps before the superstar defensive tackle decides whether to end his 2 1/2-year retirement. Donald has been training at the Rams’ Woodland Hills training complex and at home for several weeks in his attempt to return to NFL shape. While the Rams have emphasized their willingness to wait indefinitely for Donald to decide, coach Sean McVay has expressed cautious optimism in the past week about the prospect of lining up Donald and Myles Garrett together on a remarkable defensive line.