Article: Series Recap: Brewers limp into the All Star Break after dropping three in the Bay.

[DuWayne Steurer]

The Brewers close out the first half of the season with a four game set at the Giants. After dropping a series to the Pirates and splitting a pair with the Twins, the Crew look to head into the break on a high note and hang on to first place in the National League central division. 

Game 1 -- Brewers 3, Giants 2 (10) 

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Corbin Burnes took the hill for the Brewers and threw 7 1/3 innings, throwing a season high 115 pitches, and topping 100 pitches for the sixth time in the last seven games. 

Burnes wasn't super sharp tonight, walking three, but minimized the damage, allowing only four hits and two runs in the third inning. One of the runs was unearned, resulting from an earlier Victor Caratini passed ball.

Run support was at a minimum for Burnes again tonight, as the Brewers offense struggled to scratch across runs. The Brewers loaded the bases in the fourth with one out, but managed just one run on an Andrew McCutchen sacrifice fly. 

WIth the Giants holding on to a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning, Willy Adames roped an RBI single to knot the game at two. With two men on and only one out, again the Brewers could muster no further offense the rest of the inning. 

The game stayed 2-2 until the tenth inning, when Jonathan Davis came up with Christian Yelich stationed at third base and tapped a slow roller down the third base line that died on the grass and drove in Yelich. In the bottom of the frame, Devin Williams protected the lead with a three up three down inning and leaving the Giants ghost runner stranded at third.

Trevor Gott struck out two batters in the ninth to pick up the win and get to 2-2, and Williams gets the save, his sixth on the year.

Game 2 -- Giants 8, Brewers 5

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Brandon Woodruff started and really worked to get through 5 2/3 innings tonight. Woodruff threw 112 pitches in less than six innings, and at times it looked like four innings was all manager Craig Counsell was going to be able to tease out of his starter. This was the first start since Woodruff has come back from the IL that he's really showed command issues, but he battled through and gave the team almost six innings of two run baseball.

The Brewers trailed by two until the fifth, when a defensive blunder by LaMonte Wade Jr with two outs extended the inning. Two batters later, a bases clearing double by Andrew McCutchen gave the Brewers their first lead of the game. A bases loaded walk to Luis Urias ended the scoring and the Brewers were up 5-2.

The Brewers entered the ninth inning up by that same score and closer Josh Hader coming in. Seven batters, three home runs, and six runs later, the Giants were walking off an 8-5 win, and the Brewers and their fans are left wondering what's going on with the all star closer who was all but unhittable for the first 2 1/2 months of the season. Hader's E.R.A. has risen to an unsightly 4.50, and he's surrendering home runs at an alarming rate. The Brewers and Hader will have to figure it out, and hopefully soon, as the team's dwindling playoff odds definitely hinge to a degree on their massively successful closer. Hader's loss drops him to 0-4.

Game 3 -- Giants 2, Brewers 1

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The Balk Game. That's what this game is going to be known as from now on. If the Brewers turn things around and win the division walking away, this one probably just recedes into nothing, and gets forgotten. If the Brewers lose the division by a game, it could be one of those "that was a pivotal turning point" games that gets talked about (along with the walk off grand slam from the day before) for at least a few years to come.

Brewers starter Eric Lauer and Giants hurler Alex Cobb treated fans to a magnificent pitchers duel for seven-plus innings, with Lauer giving up two hits and one run on a solo homerun, and Cobb surrendering just one run on a double and a sacrifice fly.

Lauer went seven innings, and Cobb went 7 1/3, and then the game was turned over to the respective bullpens. The Brewers had an opportunity in the eighth inning to do more but with Jonathan Davis on second base and one out, the inning ended with a strikeout-throw out double play as Davis was caught stealing third base by plenty.

In the bottom of the eighth, Brewers skipper Craig Counsell turned to Brent Suter to hold down the Giants, due to the majority of the Giants bench bats being left handed. With two outs and two on, Counsell handed the ball to Jandel Gustave, who hit Evan Longoria to load the bases. WIth Mike Yastremski up, the home plate umpire called a balk as Gustave appeared to step off to get a new sign, and give the Giants the lead run in what had been a 1-1 game.

 

Decide for yourself.

The Brewers got a runner to second base with nobody out in the ninth, but couldn't bring him around, and lose 2-1. Brent Suter gets saddled with the unfortunate loss and is 1-3 on the season.

Game 4 -- Giants 9, Brewers 5

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The final score presented here is one of those "it wasn't that close" scores. The Giants got a run off of opener Aaron Ashby in the first, a run off of him in the second, and then knocked around Jason Alexander for seven runs in five innings, building up a 9-1 lead.

The Brewers opened the scoring today with a Willy Adames homerun in the first, his 19th, but that was, unfortunately, not a portent of things to come, as the Giants scored nine unanswered runs before the Brewers tallied two in the seventh and two in the eighth. 

The slumping Rowdy Tellez was able to sock his 18th homerun late in the game, and the Brewers have to hope that can be a jump start for his offense after the break. Tellez has put up just a .429 OPS the last two weeks, and for the last month is hitting just .157, with most of his .705 OPS coming from the streak of ten straight extra base hits he strung together recently. 

Connor Sadzeck made his season debut for the Crew, throwing two scoreless innings at the tail end of the game. Sadzeck pitched well for the Nashville squad this season, and appears in the majors for the first time since 2019.

Aaron Ashby takes the loss for his one inning of work, and his record drops to 2-7.

The Brewers head into the All Star Break at 50-43, holding on to a slim 1/2 game margin on the St. Louis Cardinals in the central division. 

 

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