The numbers just don’t add up
Short-handed team is eventually overpowered
CINCINNATI - The Milwaukee Brewers were personnel-challenged to say the least on Saturday afternoon.
Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun were both out with sore backs. Jeremy Jeffress and Josh Hader were unavailable out of the bullpen and Dan Jennings was in need of a day off as well.
The Brewers almost made it work without those four key players, taking a one-run lead into the seventh inning before all heck broke loose.
The Cincinnati Reds scored eight runs against three different Milwaukee relievers, catcher Erik Kratz came on to pitch the eighth and by the time it was over the Brewers had endured an ugly 12-3 drubbing at Great American Ball Park.
"These were our guys today and we knew before the game this was who we were going to have to get through the game with," manager Craig Counsell said.
"These guys can’t pitch every day. They won us the last two games, and that’s how you’ve got to play it. There’ll
be more games where Josh and J.J. weren’t available and Corey (Knebel's) not available.
"You put yourself in a position to win, and that’s all you can ask."
Despite striking out 12 times against Reds starter Tyler Mahle, the Brewers held a 3-2 lead in the seventh when the personnel deficits began showing.
Taylor Williams, who'd wriggled off the hook in a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation in the sixth by allowing just a run, allowed a leadoff single to José Peraza in the seventh.
That led to Counsell removing Williams in favor of recently recalled lefthander Mike Zagurski to face Joey Votto and Scooter Gennett.
On a day when nobody is off-limits, Jeffress very likely would have taken Williams's spot and Hader would have pitched in Zagurski's.
Ultimately, Zagurski walked Votto after getting ahead of him, 0-2. That brought up Gennett, who sent a fly ball to left that Thames both misread and lost in the sun. It dropped for a double, and Eugenio Suárez was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Jesse Winker singled in Votto to tie the game, Jacob Barnes replaced Zagurski and the Reds were off and running from there.
"My job is to get outs," Zagurski said. "It doesn’t matter if it’s 1-0 or 50-0. It was probably more out of need at the time, but that’s a situation I need to handle, and I didn’t do the job.
"It’s just disappointing."
Adam Duvall, next up, drove in two runs with a single. Tucker Barnhart singled. Then came Reds pitcher Michael Lorenzen, who slugged a pinch-hit grand slam to left-center to make it 10-3.
"Look, Taylor worked really hard to get through the sixth," Counsell said. "The plan was to try to get through the sixth and Peraza, Zagurski’s got two hitters and then hopefully Jacob’s only got to get four outs. Then we turn it over to Corey.
"It just didn’t work. We didn’t get anybody out."
The grand slam was the majorleague-leading ninth of the season for the Reds. It was also the second homer in as many days for Lorenzen against the Brewers and his third of the season.
Reds manager Jim Riggleman has toyed with the idea of using Lorenzen as an outfielder in certain situations, so he was definitely on the Brewers' radar screen coming into the series.
"The guy’s swinging the bat really well, that’s for sure," Counsell said. "We treat him as a position player; we covered him in scouting meetings. But obviously we’ve got to make some adjustments.
"He’s swinging it well."
The Reds ultimately sent 11 batters to the plate in the seventh. And with the game out of hand, Counsell turned to his starting catcher, Kratz, to get him through the eighth inning on the mound.
Pitching for the third time in his major-league career, Kratz allowed two hits, two runs (one earned) and a walk. He also struck out Suárez with a 59mph knuckleball.
Most important, he picked up the bullpen in a definite time of need.
"We don’t want to wear anybody else’s arms out, so if it can get some guys fresh so we can use them tomorrow or the next day, I definitely take pride in that," said Kratz, who also drove in the Brewers' third and final run.
"I’d rather catch nine and go away with high fives, but we didn’t get it today."
Counsell should have more flexibility with his bullpen Sunday, and he left the door open for a potential roster move while also adding Braun was trending in the right direction with regard to his availability.
For the Brewers, getting closer to full strength will definitely be a good thing.
"That’s just the course of a season," Counsell said. "There’s going to be games when those guys have to get outs. That’s not injury-related in any way. We just couldn’t get outs."