PITTSBURGH (Interstat) — Esmerlyn Valdez hit a grand slam in the seventh inning to rally the Pittsburgh Pirates past the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6 on Friday night at PNC Park before 22,484 fans in a game that lasted 2 hours 49 minutes.

The Pirates took a 2-0 lead in the first inning but fell behind 6-3 before Valdez’s blast completed a four-run bottom of the seventh that gave Pittsburgh its third win in four games. The Brewers, who entered with the best record in the National League at 59-35, dropped to 59-36 while the Pirates improved to 48-47.

Milwaukee struck first in the top of the second after William Contreras doubled and Jake Bauers followed with a two-run homer, his 18th of the season, to tie the score 2-2. The game remained deadlocked until the fifth, when the Brewers erupted for three runs. Luis Lara doubled, Cooper Pratt doubled him home, and Sal Frelick hit a two-run homer, his fourth, to put Milwaukee ahead 5-2. The Brewers added a run in the seventh on an RBI single by Contreras that scored Garrett Mitchell, making it 6-3.

Pittsburgh answered in the bottom half. Henry Davis led off with a single, Jake Mangum singled, and Brandon Lowe singled to load the bases with no outs. Bryan Reynolds struck out, bringing Valdez to the plate. He drove a 1-0 pitch from Milwaukee reliever Chad Patrick over the right-field wall for a grand slam, his ninth home run of the season, giving the Pirates a 7-6 lead. Valdez finished 3 for 4 with two home runs and six RBIs, accounting for all but one of Pittsburgh’s runs.

The Brewers threatened in the ninth. Christian Yelich singled to open the inning, Jackson Chourio popped out, and Brice Turang walked. Contreras reached on a fielder’s choice when shortstop Jared Triolo made a fielding error, loading the bases with one out. Andrew Vaughn grounded into a double play to end the game, with third baseman Nick Gonzales throwing home to catcher Henry Davis to force out Yelich and then Turang was tagged out at third.

Milwaukee had taken a 2-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by Valdez and a run-scoring error by third baseman Joey Ortiz. Valdez also homered in the third inning to tie the game 2-2 before Milwaukee’s three-run fifth.

Pirates right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski earned the win, improving to 6-3. He worked a scoreless seventh inning after entering in relief. Gregory Soto pitched the ninth for his 12th save, allowing one hit and striking out one. Brewers starter Aaron Ashby took the loss, falling to 12-2, but was not the pitcher of record when the Pirates rallied.

Milwaukee had won five of its previous six games coming into Friday, including a 8-4 victory at St. Louis on Thursday. The Brewers took three of four from the Cardinals earlier in the week and had posted a 6-3 record in their past nine contests.

Pittsburgh had lost 10-5 to Atlanta on Thursday but had taken the opener of that three-game series 12-4 before dropping two straight. The Pirates had won two of three at Washington over the weekend and had taken four of their previous seven games overall.

The teams will continue their three-game series Saturday afternoon at PNC Park. Milwaukee then returns home to face Miami on July 17 while Pittsburgh travels to Cleveland for a weekend series before a three-game set at New York against the Yankees.

The Brewers have now lost two of their last three games at PNC Park. They were swept in a three-game series in Pittsburgh in late April, dropping games 5-0, 6-3 and 6-0 from April 24-26. Friday’s win gave the Pirates a 4-2 lead in the season series.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Milwaukee 7, Pittsburgh 6. The ELO system gave the Brewers a 60.90 percent probability to win. The Pirates were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5 runs. The combined total of 13 runs went under the over-under line of 8.5 runs.