Arcia’s return makes up for rare slip by the bullpen
Thanks to arguably the best bullpen in the majors, the Milwaukee Brewers are the only team in the major leagues not to lose a game they led after six innings.
That dominance was tested Wednesday afternoon when the Brewers actually surrendered the lead in the seventh inning. But they didn't allow that to stop them from pulling out a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park.
The decisive run was delivered by Orlando Arcia, who snapped a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single on the first pitch he saw after being recalled from Class AAA Colorado Springs. Arcia had been demoted five days earlier because he wasn't hitting.
St. Louis threatened in the ninth, but Corey Knebel took over for Josh Hader with runners on the corners and two down, and struck out Jose Martinez.
The Brewers had to overcome the shock of reliever Jeremy Jeffress actually being scored on in the seventh, and for two runs no less. Jeffress had put together 23 consecutive scoreless outings, tying the club record, and had allowed just one run in 27 appearances.
Harrison Bader ended that stretch of greatness with a leadoff homer, taking a 2-0 fastball the other way to right-center. A single by Dexter Fowler and error on third baseman Travis Shaw moved the inning forward and set up a tiebreaking sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Tommy Pham.
The Cardinals' 2-1 lead did not last long. On the first and only pitch by reliever Tylor Lyons in the bottom of the seventh, Christian Yelich blasted a titanic 441-foot homer off the scoreboard in center.
Both starting pitchers showed early they would be stingy allowing runs. The Cardinals put two on with one out in the second inning but Junior Guerra struck out the next two hitters and that was that.
St. Louis starter Alex Reyes, once considered the top pitching prospect in the majors before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for a year, returned to the majors and threw the ball well in the early going. The Brewers took a run at him in the bottom of the second after Travis Shaw led off with a walk and Domingo Santana singled.
Jonathan Villar grounded into a double play, but Eric Sogard walked and Erik Kratz was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Reyes stopped it there by retiring Guerra on a fly to left.
The Cardinals had another chance slip away in the fifth after Yairo Muñoz led off with a single, stole second and was bunted to third by Carson Kelly. Greg Garcia batted for Reyes and struck out, and Matt Carpenter took a called third strike he didn’t like to end the inning.
The Brewers finally broke through against reliever John Gant to snap the scoreless deadlock in the bottom of the inning after the Cardinals messed up a bunt play on Guerra. Yelich knocked in the run with a groundout but the Brewers missed a chance for a bigger inning, leaving the bases loaded.
It was more of the same in the sixth when the Brewers loaded the bases again off Gant, who escaped by retiring Lorenzo Cain on a fly to right.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
UPON FURTHER REVIEW: After a one-out single to right field in the first inning, Yelich was called safe at first base by umpire Eric Cooper on a pickoff play by Reyes. The Cardinals challenged it, however, and were successful, getting the call overturned.
GUERRA GETS IT DONE: Guerra might not have begun the season in the Brewers rotation, but he has been their most consistent pitcher since being called up. He lowered his ERA to 2.65 with six shutout innings and turned in his fourth quality start. Opponents are batting a mere .209 against him.
REYES ON ANOTHER LEVEL: Before returning to the big leagues, Reyes made four starts in the minors and was wildly successful. Not only did he not allow a run in 23 innings, Reyes struck out 13 hitters in each of his final two outings at the Class AA and AAA levels, respectively.
THE STREAK GOES ON: With Yelich batting in the third inning, Lorenzo Cain tried to advance from first to second on a pitch in the dirt by Reyes. Catcher Carson Kelly recovered the ball and made a perfect throw to second base, catching Cain. Because Cain was not running on the pitch, it was a 2-6 fielder’s choice, not a caught stealing. St. Louis catchers have yet to catch a base stealer, going 0 for 19.
LOTS ON THE LINE: The Brewers had plenty of forward momentum on the line as they played the series finale. A victory would notch the team’s sixth consecutive series victory and also give the Brewers their most wins ever (19) in the month of May. They also had not lost consecutive games since a four-game sweep by the Cubs in Chicago from April 26-29.
RECORD
This year: 36-21 Last year: 30-27
ATTENDANCE
Wednesday: 33,133
This year: 966,356 (33,323 avg.) Last year: 833,837 (28,753 avg.)