PITTSBURGH (AP) Keith Ginter watches his at-bats on videotape after each of the Milwaukee Brewers' games. He liked what he saw Sunday afternoon.
Ginter hit a solo home run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to lead the Brewers to a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
"I'm trying to do something different with my swing, so I like to see how it's progressing," Ginter said. "I want to see the pitch locations, understand how they're trying to pitch me. A lot of us do that.
"You wouldn't know it's helping from the results, but mentally it helps to know how they're trying to pitch me and the sequences they're throwing."
With the game tied at 1, Ginter hit a 3-2 pitch from reliever Brian Meadows over the left-center field wall for his seventh homer as the Brewers avoided a two-game sweep.
Meadows (2-1) gave up one hit - the first homer he's allowed this season - in two-thirds of an inning for Pittsburgh, a major league-worst 6-13 at home.
"This was a win we had to grind out," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "I don't think we had an easy inning all day, and offensively we're not hitting on all cylinders. So to be able to battle through that is huge."
Luis Vizcaino (1-2) allowed a run and one hit in one relief inning for the win, and Dan Kolb pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 11th save
Craig Wilson homered to left on Vizcaino's first pitch of the eighth inning to tie it 1-1. It was the 10th homer of the season for Wilson, who went 3-for-4.
"I was looking for a slider and I was able to hit it," Wilson said. "I knew that's what he's used against me in the past, so that's what I was hoping for."
After the Brewers failed to score with the bases loaded in the fifth, Lyle Overbay's home run gave them a 1-0 lead in the sixth. He hit an 0-2 pitch from starter Kip Wells to right-center field for his sixth homer.
"Lyle's been phenomenal all year," Yost said. "If you make the slightest mistake against him right now, he's hitting it hard somewhere."
Doug Davis pitched six scoreless innings for Milwaukee, and allowed seven hits.
The Pirates stranded nine runners, including four at third base, and are hitless in their last 27 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
"It's always frustrating to have them out there and not be able to get them in," Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McClendon said. "Certainly we had opportunities to score runs in the game and didn't take advantage of it. You're not going to win games when you do that."
Wells matched his longest outing of the season by pitching seven innings, allowing four hits. He struck out a season-high eight batters, one shy of his career high set last July 20 against Milwaukee.
"Kip threw the ball well," Ginter said. "He always gives us trouble, and he was hitting both sides of the plate today. I was glad Doug was able to keep it close."
The Pirates left runners on second and third in each of the first two innings. Ruben Mateo grounded out to first base in the first, and Jason Kendall grounded out to short in the second.
After allowing a leadoff single to Scott Podsednik, Wells retired the next 10 batters before hitting Junior Spivey with a pitch in the fourth.
Wells walked Davis and Podsednik to load the bases with one out in the fifth, but got Chad Moeller on a forceout at home after Craig Counsell squibbed the ball to the mound. Wells then retired Spivey on a fly ball to left field.
Notes: Podsednik's stolen base in the first inning raised his NL-leading total to 21 and pushed his Milwaukee team record for consecutive steals to 22. ... The Brewers said left-hander Chris Capuano (quadriceps) may come off the 15-day disabled list by the middle of the week. ... The Brewers' Wes Helms is scheduled for surgery on the torn meniscus in his right knee Monday in Milwaukee. ... Mateo left in the sixth after injuring his left hand trying to break up a double play. The Brewers argued unsuccessfully that Mateo intentionally tried to interrupt shortstop Counsell's throw. X-rays were negative.
