MILWAUKEE -- Chad Kuhl didn't have his best stuff Tuesday night, but the Pittsburgh Pirates' offense had his back.

The Pirates put six runs on the board before Kuhl had thrown his first pitch and the right hander battled through five innings as Pittsburgh beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-3 at Miller Park.

"They did an awesome job jumping on it early," said Kuhl (2-6), who held the Brewers to two runs, seven hits and two walks over five innings and earned his first victory since April 8, when he made his season debut against the Braves. "An early six-spot gives you a lot of confidence."

A hit batter and four straight singles got things started and the Pirates went up, 3-0, when Andrew McCutchen drove in a pair with a single then advanced to second on an error by Domingo Santana, kicking off a three-hit day that included a solo home run.

"He's doing a lot of good things at the plate," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.

Both blasts came at the expense of Brewers right-hander Zach Davies (7-4), who gave up seven runs, 10 hits and a walk with four strikeouts in five innings.

Davies retired the first batter, Adam Frazier, but didn't record another out until he struck out Kuhl. The Pirates put six runs on the board in between, highlighted by Osuna's three-run homer.

"He made some mistakes with his fastball and they made him pay for it," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "He put some fastballs in the middle of the plate and they did some damage with them."

McCutchen hit his 14th home run of the season to lead off the third inning, but Davies settled down from there, and worked through the fifth without further damage.

"You have success in innings 2-3-4-5 but give up six in the first, at that point you have to hope your offense can come back," Davies said. "But when you're facing tough pitching, you can't just rely on the hitters."

Nick Franklin put Milwaukee on the board with a leadoff home run in the second, extending the Brewers' streak of consecutive runs scored via home runs to 17. He snapped that streak two innings later, driving home Travis Shaw with a single to make it 7-2.

Even with the big deficit, Milwaukee had plenty of chances to get back in the game but was 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11.

"Felt like we had traffic in a whole bunch of innings but the hit with runners in scoring position was not there," Counsell said. "But I'll always take the nights with opportunities. You're going to cash in on those eventually."

The Brewers added one more in the sixth when Keon Broxton doubled to score Orlando Arcia, who collected two singles and reached on an error but Broxton was caught trying to steal third, and the Brewers' rally fizzled.

"We had runners on base, we just didn't get the hit with runners in scoring position," Counsell said. "We didn't get contact with a guy on third and less than two outs then the base running mistake in the sixth cost us a chance at a big inning, too."

The victory allowed the Pirates to shave another game off the Brewers' lead in the NL Central. Pittsburgh is now four back of first-place Milwaukee, which leads the second-place Cubs by just a half-game in the standings.

"You have to beat the teams in your division," McCutchen said. "We're inching closer."

NOTES: Pirates C Francisco Cervelli was a late scratch from the starting lineup because of flu-like symptoms. ... Milwaukee signed RHP Tom Wilhelmsen to a minor league contract Tuesday. Wilhelmsen, the Brewers' seventh-round pick in the 2002 draft, posted a 2.97 ERA with 67 saves for the Mariners from 2011-2015 but was released by Arizona after going 1-1 wth a 4.44 mark in 27 appearances this season. ... Pittsburgh 2B Josh Harrison was hit by a pitch twice Tuesday and leads the National League after being plunked 14 times this season. ... Brewers starters were 10-5 with a combined 2.91 ERA over their previous 25 games. ... Since committing an error in three straight games April 23-26, Milwaukee 3B Travis Shaw has not been charged with an error in his last 41 contests. ... The Pirates have won eight of their last nine games in Milwaukee. ... Pittsburgh SS Jordy Merce extended his hitting streak to 10 games Tuesday.