-- Struggling through one of the worst seasons in f

PITTSBURGH -- Jeff Locke spent a lot of time with A.J. Burnett last year, and then faced his mentor in a pitching matchup in Pittsburgh. Locke got the best of Burnett on Sunday in Pittsburghs 6-2 victory that finished off a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies. "It didnt even feel like we were playing a Major League Baseball game," Locke said. "We spoke really briefly before we got in the bullpen, just told each other to have fun today, go get em. Pound down." Locke gave up just three hits and a walk in eight innings, and the Pirates completed their first sweep of the season. Pittsburgh had failed to finish a sweep in eight previous tries this season. Philadelphia was swept for the eighth time. "I didnt know we didnt have a sweep all season," Locke said. "It feels good, especially a team like those guys over there. Especially when (Marlon) Byrd and A.J. come back again." The Pirates (47-41) moved a season-high six games over .500, while the Phillies (37-51) fell a season-high 14 games below .500. Locke (2-1) gave up two runs -- one earned -- and struck out four. He has made six straight quality starts since being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on June 8. The left-hander worked mostly off of his fastball and changeup in an outing his manager Clint Hurdle called "fantastic." Byrd gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a single to left. Jimmy Rollins scored an unearned run from second after he reached base on a throwing error by third baseman Pedro Alvarez. Alvarez leads the major leagues with 18 errors this season. Pittsburgh responded in its half of the inning with two runs to erase Philadelphias early lead. Andrew McCutchen beat out a ground ball to shortstop with two outs after Burnett struck out the Pirates first two hitters. Neil Walker followed with a single. Against his former batterymate, Pirates catcher Russell Martin hit a two-run double to right-centre for a 2-1 advantage that wouldnt have been possible without McCutchens hustle. "Thats my game," McCutchen said. "I go up, hit a ball on the ground, and I have an opportunity to do something with it. Thats what I use my legs for and thats what Im going to always be like." The Pirates added another run in the third when Josh Harrison led off with a triple that split the gap in right-centre. Harrison tagged from third on a shallow fly ball from Walker to centre fielder Ben Revere and scored as Reveres throw came in offline. Burnett (5-8) gave up three runs and five hits, walked two and struck out seven in seven innings in his return to Pittsburgh. The Pirates played a "Thank You A.J." video on the scoreboard when Burnett took the mound in the first inning "The video caught me by surprise," Burnett said. "I dont know what to say about it. It was very moving. It was very unexpected." Byrd hit his 18th home run in the seventh inning to draw Philadelphia within 3-2. Locke threw Byrd a changeup low and inside, which Byrd sent over the fence in left field. "He got me," Locke said. "I got ahead of him, threw a changeup, and boom, he hit it. I knew it was a home run." For Hurdle, it was only a matter of time until Byrd would damage the Pirates. "Byrds a good hitter," Hurdle said. "We played with the tigers tail earlier in the series because he had a lot of at-bats with runners in scoring position that we were able to navigate through and around." Byrd finished 2 for 4 with two RBI. "Hes been very steady for us," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "An everyday grinder who forces the chips in. Hes been one of our consistent bats." Harrison scored again in the eighth on a RBI triple by McCutchen, who was awarded third base because of fan interference following a crew chief review initiated by home plate umpire Dale Scott. Philadelphia reliever Justin De Fratus elevated an 81 mph slider over the plate that McCutchen hammered to the opposite field. "I thought it had a chance," McCutchen said. "But like Ive said plenty of times, you just never know what the ballpark is. Some days itll go, some days it wont." McCutchen then scored on a single by Starling Marte, and Jordy Mercer drove in another run with a sacrifice fly. NOTES: Pittsburgh RHP Charlie Morton (5-9, 3.30 ERA) will oppose St. Louis RHP Adam Wainwright (1-4, 1.89 ERA) on Monday when the teams begin a three-game series at Busch Stadium. ... Philadelphia LHP Cole Hamels (2-5, 2.98 ERA) will face Milwaukee RHP Marco Estrada (7-5, 4.94 ERA) as the Phillies continue their road trip on Monday. 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Knight scored 30 points and Ramon Sessions added 22 to lead the Bucks to a 108-105 victory over the Lakers on Thursday to break an eight-game losing streak. The Bucks swept the season series for the first time since 2006-07, as Milwaukee beat Los Angeles 94-79 on Dec. 31. Knight scored a career-high 37 points in the first meeting. "Im not sure what it was, but I was able to have two good games against them," Knight said. "Some teams you just match up well against and we did this year against the Lakers." Knight also hit the key shot, a 17-foot jumper with 16 seconds remaining to give the Bucks a 105-99 lead. "They did a good job of cutting off a drive to the basket, but I was able to step back and get a good jumper that went down," he said. "It really felt nice to win a game like that." Khris Middleton added 14 points for the Milwaukee, which won for only the 14th time this season. The Bucks hit 55.7 per cent from the field, just the eighth time this season the Bucks have shot better than 50 per cent. "We feel very fortunate that we were able to play well both times that we faced them, but I dont really sense pride in beating them twice to be honest," Bucks coach Larry Drew said. Drew said Knight and Sessions really opened the floor for Milwaukee. "We probably ran more pick-and-roll than any other game we played. But we really were just focused on trying to open up the floor and both guys were getting to the basket and making shots," he said. "They seemed to play well off one another tonight. I played them both heavy minutes but they responded very well." Bucks rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo was injured midway through the fourth quarter when he stepped on Nick&nbbsp;Youngs foot while driving to the basket and hurt his left ankle.dddddddddddd He was helped to the locker room and did not return. Drew said the team would know more about Antetokounmpos injury on Friday. The Lakers had won two straight, including a 127-96 win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday when they scored 51 points in the third quarter. Jordan Hill had 28 points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers, while Young added 17 points. Young said the Lakers cant overlook any team, no matter its record. "This is the NBA where anyone can win on any night," he said. "You have to give them credit. They were more aggressive than we were at the end and really took it to the basket hard." Young hit a 3-pointer and Hill made a jumper to trim the lead to 103-99 with 1:43 remaining. Knights 17-foot jumper then gave the Bucks a six-point lead. Young countered by hitting a 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining, but the Lakers were unable to foul and Zaza Pachulia layup made it 107-102. Kent Bazemore hit a desperation 3-pointer for the Lakers with 2 seconds remaining, but Sessions was fouled and hit one of two free throws to make the score 108-105 with 0.6 seconds remaining. Young was unable to get off a final shot. "I felt like we could get it done, but it didnt happen," Young said. The Lakers played without Pau Gasol, who was out with vertigo for the second straight game, and Steve Nash, who has missed 18 of the teams last 19 games with nerve irritation. Notes: The Bucks announced Thursday that forward Ersan Ilyasova would be sidelined for the remainder of the season with a right ankle and foot injury. ... O.J. Mayo also missed the game for the Bucks as he sprained his ankle in the teams loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday. . Lakers centre Chris Kaman arrived at the arena just 30 minutes before the game, but still started and scored 13 points. ' ' '