Bell's 94 TB most in May since Willie Mays in '58

Josh Bell finished off his historic May with two more hits, giving him 94 total bases in May, the most by any player in May since Willie Mays (102) in 1958.

Bell went 2-for-5 and drove in a run to help the Pittsburgh Pirates pounce on struggling Milwaukee starter Jhoulys Chacin in a 9-4 victory Friday night.

His 94 total bases in May is the most by any player in any month in the Pirates' 138-year history. The most recent player with that many total bases in a calendar month was Giancarlo Stanton, with 98 in August 2017.

"I feel like I'm just riding the wave,'' Bell said.

Bell hit a scorching .389 in May with 12 home runs -- two of which ended up in the Allegheny River, making the 26-year-old first baseman the first player to land two in the drink since PNC Park opened in 2001.

He also joined Hall of Famers Frank Robinson and Hank Aaron as the only players in National League history to have 12 doubles and 12 home runs in the same month.

"He pushes himself,'' Pittsburgh pitcher Chris Archer (2-5) said of Bell after picking up his first victory since April 7. "If he gets out, he's mad. He's hitting .340 and he's angry that he got out, which continues to keep him motivated. He's not content. We've got four months left in the season and I expect to see big things from him going forward.''

Bell didn't provide any big blasts Friday night, but contributed to a flood of small ones as the Pirates won for just the fourth time in 11 games. Starling Marte had three hits and scored three times and Kevin Newman went 2-for-5 with two RBIs to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games.

SHAKY CHACIN

Chacin (3-7) fell to 1-7 in his past 10 starts when his command abandoned him in the third inning. The 11-year-veteran walked four batters in the frame, three of them with the bases loaded, including a five-pitch walk to Archer that pushed Pittsburgh's lead to 5-1. Freddy Peralta replaced Chacin and Newman delivered a liner to left field that allowed Colin Moran and Adam Frazier to score and push Pittsburgh's advantage to 7-1.

Chacin -- a 15-game winner last season for a team that reached the National League Championship Series -- saw his ERA balloon to 5.74 after being charged with seven runs in 2⅔ innings, with two strikeouts. His four walks marked a season high and he threw just 40 of his 76 pitches for strikes.

"I just lost my focus in that inning,'' Chacin said. "That never happened to me before, walking guys with the bases loaded like that. I need to start to do a better job if I want to keep pitching.''

Something that might not be guaranteed. Asked if Chacin might need a break, Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said only: "We've got to figure out how to get him pitching the way he's capable of.''

ARCHER REBOUNDS

Archer came in winless since early April, a stretch that's watched the centerpiece of a deal that sent Tyler Glasnow and Austin Meadows to Tampa Bay search for answers. He seemed to find some in a bullpen session in Cincinnati while throwing to Jacob Stallings. Stallings encouraged Archer to rely more on his fastball, and Archer responded by striking out seven with two walks in seven innings. He gave up a solo home run to Jesus Aguilar in the third and a three-run shot to Keston Hiura in the fourth but settled down afterward.

"I'm going to stay relentless,'' Archer said. "I've been doing this a long time. I'm not going to let [a slump] define me.''

TRAINER'S ROOM

Brewers: C Manny Pina (right hamstring discomfort) is expected to rejoin Milwaukee over the weekend.

Pirates: RHP Jordan Lyles (left hamstring discomfort) will start Sunday's series finale. ... RHP Keone Kela will be shut down for 10 days after the right shoulder discomfort that sent him to the injured list popped back up during a rehab assignment.

UP NEXT

Brewers: Brandon Woodruff (7-1, 3.22 ERA) will look for his seventh straight win on Saturday. Woodruff limited the Phillies to one run in eight innings last Sunday.

Pirates: Nick Kingham (1-1, 8.28) hasn't won a game as a starter since last July, but will get the nod Saturday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.