Cardinals rough up Chacín often
A series that began with a ton of promise for the Milwaukee Brewers concluded with a big thud on Sunday afternoon.
Jhoulys Chacín struggled with his command from the outset, the offense was a no-show after the initial inning and the net result was an 8-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park.
Chacín’s performance was his worst since coming to Milwaukee, as he allowed season highs in hits with nine, runs with eight (all earned) and walks with five in just 4 1⁄3 innings.
The Brewers, meanwhile, failed to take advantage of the strong start they got off to in the four-game set. They drubbed the Cardinals, 11-3, on Thursday and came from behind to post a dramatic, 2-1, walk-off victory on Friday.
Offense was the issue in Saturday’s 3-2 loss, a game in which they scored twice in the first inning and never again.
It was almost a carbon copy Sunday, when a Christian Yelich homer and a Hernán Pérez RBI single off Luke Weaver gave the Brewers and Chacín a 2-1 lead heading to the second.
Chacín (6-3) worked around a twoon, nobody-out jam in the second and a two-out walk in the third before the Cardinals broke the game open in the fourth.
Dexter Fowler doubled to start and Harrison Bader drew a walk, and both eventually moved into scoring position by tagging on a fly ball to right field by Kolten Wong.
That brought up Matt Carpenter, who singled to center to score both and put St. Louis ahead to stay.
The Cardinals weren’t done, however, as Greg Garcia followed with a walk and José Martínez a three-run home run to left-center on an 0-2 pitch to eliminate any doubt.
Chacín - 0-6 with a 5.88 earned run average in eight career games against the Cardinals coming in - exited after the first three batters reached and two more runs scored in the fifth.
The start was his shortest since April 30, and he dropped to 6-3.
The Brewers managed just two hits after the first inning - both singles but did emerge from the day with their two-game lead in the National League Central intact after the Cincinnati Reds concluded a three-game sweep over the Chicago Cubs.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
SHAW EXITS EARLY: Third baseman Travis Shaw, already having missed two games last week due to a sore right wrist, had to be removed from the game during his third-inning at-bat after aggravating it fouling a ball off. Brad Miller replaced him in an 0-2 count and struck out swinging on the first pitch he saw.
“Obviously a pretty good twinge on that swing,” Shaw said. “There’s no way I could have kept going.”
DAY OF REST: Lorenzo Cain was out of the lineup for a pre-determined day off. But also getting a breather was Jesús Aguilar, who just so happens to be the Brewers’ hottest hitter of late.
“He needs a day,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We have to understand this is a big man and we’ve got to give him some days off. That’s how I’ll put it.”
Aguilar wound up striking out in a pinch-hitting appearance in the sixth.
WAIT AND SEE: Counsell said that right-hander Matt Albers, on the disabled list since June 12 with a rightshoulder issue, isn’t likely to return before the all-star break.
“We’re hopeful that after the offday he’ll start a throwing program. I think we’re looking post-all star break as the most realistic thing,” he said. “But we are moving forward to getting on the field, so it’s going in the right direction.”
GETTING CLOSER: There was a bit of good injury news as infielder Tyler Saladino, on the DL since May 30 with a left-ankle sprain, is nearing a minorleague rehab assignment.
“With Saladino, we’re making very good progress,” Counsell said. “He is taking big steps every day now, so we’re closing in on looking at setting a date for sending him out to rehab.”
TWO DOWN FOR DAVIES: Zach Davies completed his second minorleague rehab start on Sunday, as he allowed three hits with a walk and four strikeouts over 4 1/3 shutout innings with Class AAA Colorado Springs.
Davies, who’s been on the disabled list since June 1 with a right rotatorcuff issue, threw 57 pitches in all.
RECORD
This year: 45-32 Last year: 40-37
ATTENDANCE
Sunday: 39,710
This year: 1,345,976 (34,513 avg.) Last year: 1,114,892 (28,587 avg.)