MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Wes Helms ' big swing produced a little dribbler. Randall Simon 's little swing produced big news.

Helms' RBI single with two outs in the 12th inning lifted the Milwaukee Brewers to a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates .

While a tight pitchers' duel took place between the white lines, the game itself became a news story when Pittsburgh's Simon took a soft swipe with his bat at a costumed character between the sixth and seventh innings.

Milwaukee's "sausage race" is one of its more popular in-game attractions and as "Italian sausage" neared the Pirates' duguout, Simon took a swing that toppled the character. The women in the costume fell into another character and both were treated for scrapes.

Following the game, Milwaukee County sheriffs took Simon in for questioning and the Pirates first baseman could face criminal charges.

"I think it was done in a more playful way," Pittsburgh's Reggie Sanders said. "I'm sure he was not trying to hit the person as hard as it looked."

The incident overshadowed the tight contest, which was decided by a dribbler from one of the stronger sluggers in the game.

"I just wanted to put it in play," Helms said. "I don't like it because it probably wasn't a pitch I should've swung at, but I'm happy with what came out of it."

In the 12th, Scott Podsednik flied out and Geoff Jenkins struck out but Richie Sexson walked. Reliever Joe Beimel (1-2) gave up a broken-bat single to John Vander Wal , which moved Sexson to third.

With runners at the corners, Helms tapped a 2-1 pitch down the third base line. Pittsburgh third baseman Aramis Ramirez tried to barehand the ball but bobbled it, allowing Sexson to score.

"When I saw where it was, I just took off running and didn't know what happened until I heard the cheer of the crowd," Helms said.

Monday night, Helms erased a two-run deficit and forced extra innings with a ninth-inning homer off All-Star closer Mike Williams .

Glendon Rusch made his first start since being recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis on July 7 and allowed just one run and four hits in six innings.

Prior to being sent to the minor leagues, Rusch had failed to earn a win in 13 consecutive starts and allowed at least three runs in all but one of those appearances. At the time of his demotion on June 20, he led the National League with 124 hits.

"The main thing was my confidence and mindset," Rusch said. "Both were different tonight. It's tough to have one outing and say I've fixed everything, but hopefully this will carry over. I felt a little like this was a fresh start and that was definitely a good thing."

Kenny Lofton had two hits and Brian Giles drove in the lone run for Pittsburgh, which lost for just the second time in seven games.

Brooks Kieschnick (1-1) pitched a perfect 12th and struck out two for his first major league win.

Pirates starter Kris Benson allowed one run and seven hits in six innings.

"(The loss is) unfortunate because we got really good pitching tonight," Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon . "We only had six hits and left a lot of guys in scoring position and we're not going to win a lot of games like that."