PITTSBURGH -- A span of roughly 2 1/2 hours used to be enough to play a major league game. Not so much anymore, but that can be a lot of time to kill -- especially in the midst of a game.

That was the game within the game Friday for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers, who endured a long rain delay between the third and fourth innings.

"We were just in the back game room playing 'Big Game Hunter' and shooting around, cracking jokes -- just doing what you can to pass the time," said Pirates first baseman Josh Bell, who went 2-for-4 with a solo homer, both hits coming after the game resumed, to help the Pirates beat the Brewers 4-0 at PNC Park.

Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle got a lot done during the delay.

"We told some old stories. We watched a little TV. We played some music," Hurdle said. "Looked at the Dodgers' pitching rotation (for a series next week).

"I did stuff so I stayed engaged. I didn't eat. I'm really hungry."

So was reliever Wade LeBlanc (2-0), but his hunger was to get on the mound.

He and four other Pittsburgh pitchers combined on a seven-hit shutout.

LeBlanc, who took over for Chad Kuhl when play resumed, allowed two hits over three innings, with four strikeouts and no walks. He also singled in a run in the fourth.

"He's one of those guys that more often than not can get overlooked within the game with all the analytics that are running right now," Hurdle said of LeBlanc. "He has the feel to pitch. He reads swings well. He knows himself very well. He's used it to his advantage."

Rob Scahill (0-1), making his first major league appearance of the season, gave up four runs, two of them earned, in two innings of relief.

Bell was 2-for-4 with a solo home run and Gregory Polanco was 2-for-4 with an RBI single and a run scored.

The Pirates (13-16) broke a two-game losing streak. They are 6-11 within the National League Central, with four of those wins coming against the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs.

Milwaukee (15-15) missed a chance to move within a half-game of the Cubs atop the division.

The delay, officially 2:27, halted good outings for both starters -- particularly Milwaukee's Jimmy Nelson, who threw three no-hit innings with two strikeouts and no walks.

"It's a shame because he was pitching very well," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "He was on top of his game for sure. It was a very solid, quick efficient three innings. We got in, 2 1/2 is just too long. We were willing to wait a little bit, but that's too long."

Kuhl gave up two hits and struck out two in three scoreless innings.

"I felt like I was going to go five or six and have a strong outing," said Kuhl, who took his regular turn despite leaving Monday's game after taking a liner off his right knee.

"I get taken out and then Mother Nature doesn't cooperate. It's a little frustrating, but that's the game of baseball."

Scahill, who arrived from Triple-A Colorado Springs on Monday, entered the game in the fourth for the Brewers when play resumed. The Pirates greeted him with three runs that inning, although only one was earned.

"I didn't execute a lot of my pitches," Scahill said. "The ones I left up got hit. The ones I didn't leave up, I got outs with."

Bell led off against Scahill with a double to center and scored an out later on Polanco's single to center. After Francisco Cervelli singled up the middle, Polanco scored when Jose Osuna reached on a fielder's choice and a throwing error by first baseman Eric Thames.

With two outs, LeBlanc singled in Cervelli to make it 3-0, although Osuna was thrown out at home on the play to end the inning. It was the first hit for LeBlanc since May 1, 2013, and his first RBI since May 31, 2011.

"I wasn't ready to get to anything else besides a fastball," LeBlanc said. "Put a swing on it, close your eyes, hopefully it finds some grass."

Bell added a one-out, 400-foot solo homer to right-center -- the ball bounced into the Allegheny River -- in the fifth for a 4-0 Pittsburgh lead.

NOTES: LF Ryan Braun, out of the lineup since he left Sunday's game because of arm soreness and tightness in his right trapezius, was sent back to Milwaukee to have an MRI and consult with team doctors. He is expected back in Pittsburgh on Saturday. ... Pittsburgh IF David Freese and IF Adam Frazier, both on the DL because of hamstring trouble, did infield agility drills and ran in the outfield. Manager Clint Hurdle said Frazier will being a minor-league rehabilitation stint soon, and Freese is "coming along fine." ... C Francisco Cervelli started for the second game in a row, but No. 3 C Elias Diaz remained on the Pirates roster in case Cervelli had recurring trouble with a sore right foot. ... The Milwaukee game rained out Wednesday at St. Louis will be made up with a split double-header June 13. ... Hundreds of personal effects from the family of late Pirates Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente will be auctioned during the All-Star FanFest, July 11 in Miami.