The nerves weren't quite so bad this time. The jitters Sam Martin Jersey , a touch less.

The stuff? Well, that didn't change a bit for Milwaukee rookie pitcher Freddy Peralta. The 22-year-old handcuffed the Pittsburgh Pirates over six shutout innings and the Brewers held on for a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night.

Peralta (2-0) struck out seven without issuing a walk in his third career start, looking very much like the kid who tied a franchise record by striking out 13 in his major league debut last month. The Brewers sent him down to the minors after his second start to work on his control and he appeared to be firmly in command against the Pirates.

"It was normal, you know," Peralta said. "It's always, work, you know? I was comfortable today with everything: my pitches, the guys behind me, everything."

Jesus Aguilar finished 2 for 3 and drove in all three runs off Jameson Taillon (4-6). Aguilar hit a two-run shot to the seats in right-center in the first and doubled down the line in left field in the third.

"It was important, especially for Peralta, to just give him a lead right away. That way he feels confident," Aguilar said.

Corey Knebel worked around a two-out walk in the ninth for his seventh save for the first-place Brewers, who ended a three-game losing streak.

Starling Marte hit his ninth home run of the season in the eighth off Milwaukee reliever Jeremy Jeffress to pull Pittsburgh with one. Jordy Mercer had an RBI double in the seventh but Pittsburgh's offense mustered little with Peralta on the mound.

The 22-year-old attacked the Pirates high in the strike zone and threw 62 of his 99 pitches for strikes. Only Marte seemed able to generate solid contact. He reached second in the first when Milwaukee right fielder Eric Thames couldn't handle a drive that bounced off his glove near the wall.

Peralta retired Moran on a lineout and settled in.

"He made pitches William Jackson Jersey ," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Kept us off balance with the curveball. Attacked. Very aggressive. Good downhill angle from a guy who's not tall in stature. He pitched a lot taller than he was height-wise, and got after it."

Taillon, coming off a solid outing in a win in Arizona last week, had plenty of swing-and-miss stuff – he recorded seven strikeouts in five innings – but had no answer for Aguilar. Lorenzo Cain led off the game with an infield single and two batters later Aguilar put one in the seats to put Milwaukee up 2-0.

"Jesus is a good hitter," Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said. "He's been a good hitter since the day we got him. I think he's improving. He's a hitter that understands pitching. He understands what they're trying to do to him. He's got experience now against the league a little bit. The league's kind of adjusted to him and he's been able to adjust back."

A nearly identical sequence happened in the third. Cain reached on an infield hit and Aguilar laced the ball to left with Cain easily beating the throw home.

"Both times hanging breaking balls to Aguilar after an infield hit, he did what he should have done with them," Taillon said.

OH SAY CAN YOU SEE

Pirates reliever Steven Brault moonlights as the front man in a rock band called The Street Gypsies. He found himself in front of a microphone on Tuesday night, only this time the audience wasn't a night club but PNC Park. The 26-year-old belted out "The Star-Spangled Banner" before first pitch, delivering on a promise he made to his grandmother.

"I think it went pretty well," Brault said. "I was a little more nervous than I thought I would be leading into it. I was fine, and then when I started singing, I was like `Oh, this is pretty cool."'

TRAINER'S ROOM

Brewers: RHP Zach Davies (right rotator cuff inflammation) was scheduled to make a rehab start for Triple-A Colorado Springs on Tuesday night.

Pirates: OF Austin Meadows was held out of the starting lineup for a second straight game while dealing with a right foot injury suffered when he fouled a ball off it on Sunday. Meadows entered as a pinch hitter in the seventh and struck out to end the inning with runners on second and third.

UP NEXT

Brewers: Brent Suter will make his first career start against the Pirates in the series finale on Wednesday. Suter is 5-1 with a 3.24 ERA in his last six starts and 7-4 with a 4.30 ERA overall.

Pirates: Chad Kuhl (5-3 Emmanuel Sanders Jersey , 3.76) is unbeaten against Milwaukee, going 3-0 with a 1.91 ERA. The Pirates are 6-0 overall in games Kuhl has started against the Brewers.

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>Well, no one STILL seems to agree on what, exactly, should constitute a catch in the NFL 鈥?and that contributed to the Pittsburgh Steelers' loss to the New England Patriots in a key game for home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs.It's also hard to find folks who like the provision that awards possession of the football to the team on defense after an offensive player fumbles it out of the end zone 鈥?and that (along with, yes, what appeared to be a folded index card used to determine whether there was a first down) helped the Dallas Cowboys beat the Oakland Raiders to keep their postseason hopes intact as Ezekiel Elliott prepares to return from a suspension.Two of the most confounding pieces of the NFL rulebook took center stage at the end of key games Sunday, and the results could have a real impact on who ends up reaching the Super Bowl.Maybe this offseason, the competition committee will, once and for all, alter the ways one 鈥?or even both 鈥?of these situations are handled. Until that happens, there will be questions and complaints.Which, when you think about it Christine Michael Sr Jersey , might be what the league wants: Such conversations mean attention.New England clinched a record ninth consecutive division title with a 27-24 victory at Pittsburgh that came after Ben Roethlisberger's apparent 10-yard TD pass to Jesse James with 28 seconds left was erased because, as referee Tony Corrente, explained: "The receiver did not survive the ground."As James twisted and lunged into the end zone at the play's finish, he extended the ball, which shifted in his hands. The call was called the way the NFL says it should be .But CBS announcers Tony Romo and Jim Nantz were so unaware that was even an issue that they only were trying to figure out whether James might have been touched by a defender before the football crossed the goal line."There's no doubt it's going to hold up," Nantz declared.Asked later how he felt about the eventual replay ruling, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin replied: "It's really irrelevant how I feel about it, to be honest with you. It's not going to change the outcome of the game. I'm not going to cry over spilled milk."Both teams are 11-3; the Patriots' win puts them on a path to host a possible rematch in the conference championship game.And there were so many other talking points afterward, including just how serious Steelers receiver Antonio Brown's left calf injury is; what went on with the last-minute decision-making by Roethlisberger, who compounded the damage done by the James call by faking a spike and then forcing a throw on a slant into the end zone that got intercepted with 5 seconds to go; and why Pittsburgh allowed New England tight end Rob Gronkowski to roam free with single-man coverage.At night, Dallas' 20-17 victory at Oakland was sealed when Raiders QB Derek Carr lost his grip on the football while reaching for the end zone on a scramble from the 8. The ball crossed the goal line, then went out the side of the end zone 鈥?a turnover and a touchback.Why not give the offense the ball where the player lost possession? Or back the offense up to the 25? Or come up with some other solution that doesn't reward the defense for having done absolutely nothing to prevent a score?That wasn't the most bizarre moment of the game. Or even the entire NFL day. No, that was reserved for referee Gene Steratore's decision to try sliding what appeared to be an index card between the tip of the ball and the end of the chain when measuring for a first down. When he determined the card didn't fit Kelvin Benjamin Jersey , Steratore awarded a first down to Dallas (8-6), which wound up kicking the go-ahead field goal on that drive."That was interesting," Cowboys QB Dak Prescott said. 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The Packers were all but eliminated from the playoffs; they haven't missed out since 2008.BREAK UP THE JAGSSo bad for so, so long, the Jacksonville Jaguars earned their first postseason berth in a decade by easily beating the Houston Texans 45-7. QB Blake Bortles threw three TDs in the first half for the first time in his career.WELCOME BACK, TEDDY TWO GLOVESWith an NFC North-clinching 34-7 win over the Cincinnati Bengals a foregone conclusion, the Minnesota Vikings gave Teddy Bridgewater his first regular-season game action since January 2016. And his first pass since tearing up his knee? Intercepted. Womens Rashaan Gaulden Jersey