It would be nearly impossible for somebody to mistake Yovani Gallardo for CC Sabathia, but the Brewers' emerging young star is putting together a streak that would make last year's stretch-run hero envious.

Gallardo flirted with a perfect game for four-plus innings, held Pittsburgh scoreless through eight and scored the game's only run with a seventh-inning home run as the Brewers beat the Pirates, 1-0, Wednesday afternoon.

Behind excellent command of his fastball, Gallardo struck out a career-high 11 batters while issuing just one walk to improve to 3-1 on the season while his ERA dropped to 2.86. His only hits came on a pair of doubles; one to Andy LaRoche in the fifth that broke up the perfect game and another in the eighth.

Commanding his fastball, Gallardo says, was something he struggled a bit with in his first three starts this season (1-1, 14 H, 9 ER, 6 BB, 9 K). In the rare instance he got into a jam, he recovered

"Fastball command was important," Gallardo said "I was able to do that today and throw my curveball for strikes. The first two starts, my fastball command wasn't where it usually is. The past three starts, I've been able to command in and out of the plate."

With every start, Gallardo is looking more and more like a true ace. He was fresh off the heels of his first-ever complete game, a 106-pitch effort Friday night in Houston. In his last three starts, Gallardo has allowed just two runs on 12 hits with three walks while striking out 25.

"If you're going to classify somebody an ace pitcher, that's somebody that goes out there and tells the bullpen to take a rest for the day," said manager Ken Macha. "He's certainly done that his last two outings."

He's making things difficult for Macha, who doesn't want to see the youngster -- with just 30 major league starts under his belt -- burn out early in the season. Gallardo threw 116 pitches Wednesday and is averaging 105.6 pitches in his five 2009 starts.

To keep Gallardo fresh, Macha plans to limit his between-starts bullpen work by roughly a third. He doesn't think that will have an adverse effect on Gallardo.

"You go out there, on side days, and you're trying to work on something," Macha said. "He's OK right now. If it's not broke, don't fix it."

Still, as good as Gallardo looked, the game seemed eeriely similar to the early days of Ben Sheets', who preceded Gallardo as the staff ace. Sheets frequently was the victim of poor run support.

And while Gallardo dazzled, Pittsburgh starter Ian Snell stymied the Brewers' hitters in a yeoman's effort (131 pitches, 5 hits, four walks). The result could have been a painful loss, but Gallardo's ability to hit -- a polar opposite of Sheets' sometimes-ugly at-bats -- proved to be enough to spare him from a similar fate.

The home run's importance aside, Gallardo was much more pleased with his pitching ability than his more-than-respectable offensive numbers (.333 average, 2 home runs, 4 RBI, .883 slugging percentage).

"Pitching is always more important," Gallardo said, "It's always good to be able to help yourself out in that situation. … It's just an extra thing for a pitcher in the National League to be able to hit."

Both of his home runs this season have been the deciding factor in the game. He hit a three-run homer off Randy Johnson in his first outing of the season, a shot that proved the difference in the Brewers' 4-1 victory.

"He won us two games this year," Macha said.

With Trevor Hoffman unavailable today after pitching both Monday and Tuesday nighs, it was up to Carlos Villanueva to nail down the victory. Villanueva, 1-for-4 in save opportunities this season, had been snake-bitten by a couple of bad-pitches that spoiled otherwise solid outings.

He showed no problems, though, using his change-up to work a perfect ninth inning and notching his second save of the season.

Rivera to the DL: The team moved backup catcher Mike Rivera to the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with a high ankle sprain. Rivera left Miller Park before the game to be evaluated by team physician William Raasch.

The timing is unfortunate for Rivera, who was seeing increased playing time and making the most of the opportunity, hitting .308 in five games. He had been a regular fixture in the lineup, at least once every five days as Dave Bush's personal catcher, and may have seen more time in the near future if Jason Kendall's struggles at the plate continued.

But with Rivera expected to be out at least the next few days, the Brewers needed to add an extra catcher to the roster; which they are likely to do late tonight or tomorrow morning.

"It's disappointing, yeah," Rivera said. "Now that I have a chance to play a little more, this injury comes. It's pretty sore right now. We'll see what happens in a couple days."

Hoffman, Stetter get days off: In a pre-game meeting with his relievers, Macha told both Hoffman and Mitch Stetter that they would not be used today. Stetter, the lone left-hander in the bullpen, had pitched in five of the Brewers' last six games, while Hoffman pitched in back-to-back outings after being reactivated from the disabled list on Sunday.

Macha said the decision to keep Hoffman out today was his alone and was decided with the rest of the season in mind, especially considering the bullpen's woes in the early part of the year.

"He's too valuable," Macha said. "I can't put him in there in April and have something happen. He hadn't even been in two days in a row, coming in yesterday. You've seen the shuffle we've had in the bullpen at the beginning of the year. Hopefully, we're going to get some order here."

Notes: Corey Hart doubled in the fourth inning, his fifth in the last five games. He's hit safely in 10 of the last 12. … Rickie Weeks' six-game hitting streak was snapped. … Chris Duffy's fifth-inning double was his first hit of the season. … Bill Hall has hit safely in 16 of 18 games this year and is hitting .303. … Snell is 4-2 with a 2.20 in 41 career innings against the Brewers. … Milwaukee (11-10) is above .500 for the first time this season.

Tomorrow: The Brewers continue a seven-game homestand when the Arizona Diamondbacks come to Miller Park for the first of a four-game weekend set. Righty Max Scherzer (0-2, 4.91 ERA) will start for Arizona while Jeff Suppan (1-2, 7.32) takes the mound for Milwaukee.