The Brewers were unable to complete a sweep of the Guardians on Thursday afternoon, as Cleveland stayed in the game all day before pulling ahead and ultimately winning 4-2 behind three solo homers.
Advertisement
Shane Drohan worked around a one-out walk in the first, while Parker Messick set the Brewers down in order in the bottom of the frame.
Cleveland had some traffic in the second, as Kyle Manzardo was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a single by Gabriel Arias, but Drohan settled in to record a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to escape the mini-jam.
The Brewers mounted their own threat in the bottom of the second, as Andrew Vaughn and Jake Bauers reached on a walk and single, respectively. Gary Sánchez then brought in the first run of the afternoon on a single just out of reach of second baseman Travis Bazzana, giving Milwaukee a 1-0 lead and putting runners at the corners with no outs.
Blake Perkins followed with a groundout to third, as Arias went home with it to get Bauers trying to score. Cooper Pratt then struck out on a pitch over his head, and Joey Ortiz nearly extended the lead with a hard liner, but right fielder Kahlil Watson — in his MLB debut — made a nice diving catch to keep the score at 1-0.
Advertisement
After Bazzana grounded out to begin the third, Drohan got into a nine-pitch battle with David Fry, who ultimately slugged a homer over the wall in left-center, just out of reach of Perkins, tying things up at 1-1.
Drohan’s third-inning troubles continued, as he gave up a single and walk with one out, but he was able to keep the game tied with a pair of groundouts.
Christian Yelich hit a ground-rule double to begin the third but would be stranded on the basepaths as Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang, and Jake Bauers all struck out.
After Drohan bounced back for a 1-2-3 fourth, the Brewers regained the lead in the bottom of the inning. Sánchez drew a walk, Perkins doubled, and Pratt hit a sac fly to make it 2-1 Brewers.
Drohan worked another scoreless fifth, and that marked the end of his day. It was a solid albeit inefficient day for the rookie lefty, as he went five innings with one run allowed on three hits and three walks, striking out three on 91 pitches.
Advertisement
Joel Kuhnel took over for the Brewers in the sixth and gave up a game-tying solo homer to Manzardo on a 1-1 cutter he left over the plate.
Messick kept the tie intact in the bottom of the sixth, and Cleveland pulled into their first lead of the game — and the series — in the seventh, as Grant Anderson gave up a one-out solo shot to Bazzana, making it 3-2 Guardians. Anderson continued to struggle from there, giving up a pair of walks before inducing a pop-out.
Anderson was then pulled for lefty Drew Rom, who promptly walked Manzardo to load the bases with two outs for Arias. Arias didn’t need to do anything, though, as Rom buried his first pitch in the dirt, a wild pitch that allowed all runners to advance and extending the lead to 4-2 before Arias ultimately struck out.
Against lefty reliever Tim Herrin in the seventh, Pratt drew a leadoff walk but was wiped out by a quick 5-4-3 double play off the bat of Ortiz. Yelich then walked, and Guardians manager Stephen Vogt went to Colin Holderman to face Chourio. After falling behind 0-2 against Holderman, Chourio worked it back to a 2-2 count before reaching on a hit by pitch that (luckily) went off his padding. Turang then followed with a walk of his own, and Vaughn got into a full count but grounded out to short to end the inning, as Brayan Rocchio and Rhys Hoskins both flashed the leather to end the frame.
Advertisement
Rom worked around a single, a balk, a wild pitch, and a walk in the eighth, keeping the deficit at two with Hunter Gaddis entering to pitch.
Gaddis, who gave up the go-ahead homer in Tuesday night’s game, walked Bauers to start things off, but Sánchez and the pinch-hitting Garrett Mitchell — who hit that homer on Tuesday — struck out. Pratt fell behind 0-2 but worked it to 2-2 before lining a single to right, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate. Vogt didn’t mess around, bringing closer Cade Smith in for Gaddis as he’d have to face the pinch-hitting William Contreras.
Contreras walked on four pitches, meaning Smith would have to face the lefty Yelich with the tying run at second and the go-ahead run at first. Yelich couldn’t make anything of the opportunity, though, as he struck out on four pitches.
Craig Yoho got the ninth inning for Milwaukee, and he gave up a leadoff double to Rocchio but stranded him at third behind a pair of strikeouts and a flyout.
Advertisement
Still facing a 4-2 deficit after a pair of squandered bases-loaded opportunities, the top of Milwaukee’s order would have to mount a rally against the hard-throwing Smith. It wasn’t to be, though, Vaughn was the only player to reach via a four-pitch walk, with Chourio grounding out, Turang striking out, and Bauers flying out.
It was a disappointing loss, as the Brewers had plenty of scoring chances — they had five hits and nine walks on the afternoon, but they also struck out 13 times. As a team, they went just 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 12 on base, not ideal for a team that relies so heavily on small ball.
Sánchez and Pratt both had an RBI in this one, and Vaughn led the team by reaching base three times, all via walk. Yelich, Bauers, Sánchez, and Pratt all had a hit and walk each.
Beyond Drohan, who left in line for the win, Kuhnel took a blown save and Anderson took the loss with two runs allowed in the seventh. Rom and Yoho worked around traffic in the final few innings, allowing no runs and striking out five over 2 1/3 frames.
Advertisement
After a solid 4-2 homestand, the Brewers are headed back on the road as they’ll take on the NL East-leading Braves in Atlanta beginning Friday night. Jacob Misiorowski is on the hill for Friday’s series opener, with veteran lefty Martín Pérez set to start for Atlanta. First pitch is set for 6:15 p.m.
