Not the finish they expected
Walk-off loss is second in three games
MIAMI - It was a good news, bad news kind of night for the Milwaukee Brewers.
After learning before the game that first baseman Jesús Aguilar had won the Final Vote and will be taking part in his first All-Star Game, they suffered their second walk-off loss in extra innings in three games to the lowly Miami Marlins.
Rookie Freddy Peralta was chased from the game after a tough fourth inning, and the offense had another one of its Jekyll-and-Hyde nights as the Brewers went on to fall, 5-4, in the 12 innings at Marlins Park on Wednesday.
Milwaukee managed just eight hits in losing the game and the series to Miami, which entered tied with the New York Mets for last place in the National League.
Jorge López pitched two hitless innings before giving up a leadoff single to former Brewers minor-leaguer Garrett Cooper to start the Miami 12th.
Cooper advanced to second on an infield chopper and after Brian Anderson was walked intentionally, Starlin Castro singled to left to hand the Brewers their first series defeat since June 15-17
against Philadelphia at Miller Park.
The Brewers grabbed a quick 2-0 lead after three innings, with Aguilar doubling in Eric Thames in the first and Christian Yelich singling in Thames in the third.
Peralta sailed through the initial three innings, allowing just a walk with four strikeouts before his outing came to an abrupt end in the fourth.
Miami tied it at 2-2 three batters into the frame, as Brian Anderson led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Starlin Castro and Justin Bour homered to center.
Peralta retired Martín Prado to get within an out of escaping with the tie intact, but then surrendered a single and a walk and then hit a batter to load the bases for Marlins pitcher Dan Straily.
Straily worked a five-pitch walk from Peralta to force in the go-ahead run, finishing the rookie’s night. He threw 93 pitches and allowed three hits and three walks to go with his four strikeouts.
The Marlins tacked a run on in the sixth against Jacob Barnes and the score stood at 4-2 until the eighth, when Aguilar roped his second double of the night to left to score both Thames and Christian Yelich to make it 4-4.
Kyle Barraclough walked the bases loaded in the ninth, but Yelich struck out on a pitch in the dirt. Corey Knebel pitched a scoreless ninth to send the game into extra innings.
Aguilar finished with three hits and three RBI to lead Milwaukee.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
YOUTHFUL EXUBERANCE: The Brewers were featuring an extremely young battery with the 22-year-old Peralta on the mound and 23-year-old Jacob Nottingham behind the plate.
“Those guys are ready to do it,” manager Craig Counsell said before the game. “There’s a little bit of familiarity there (from Class AAA Colorado Springs).”
MORE RUMORS: With the trading deadline fast approaching, the Brewers are being mentioned as potential buyers beyond the rumors linking them to Baltimore’s Manny Machado. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported that Milwaukee has been talking with the Minnesota Twins about Brian Dozier and Eduardo Escobar. Dozier, a second baseman, has been one of the best power-hitting second basemen in the major leagues but is having a down year at the plate with a .223 average, 14 homers and 39 RBI coming into Wednesday. Escobar, who has played primarily third base for the Twins this season but has been primarily a shortstop in his career, is hitting .275/14/54.
SPEAKING OF MACHADO: Morosi also wrote Wednesday that the Brewers could be emerging as the front-runners for Machado based on the package of players they could trade to the Orioles. According to Morosi it would center around a pitching prospect such as Corbin Burnes - although The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal says the Brewers won’t part with Burnes - or Luis Ortiz and also include a major-league player such as Orlando Arcia, Keon Broxton or Santana.
TRADE TALKS ACTIVE: General manager David Stearns categorized trade talks as active, and said they haven’t been skewed toward adding more offense or pitching.
“We’re focused on improving the team any way we can, and we can do that on both sides of the ball,” he said. “Certain things leak for certain reasons, and I try not to pay too much attention to it. But just because something leaks that doesn’t mean what we’re actively working on or that’s the only thing we’re working on.
“There are constantly multiple discussions going on, and that’s true for every team out there.”
HAVE A DAY: Class AA Biloxi outfielder Corey Ray tied a Shuckers franchise record on Wednesday by homering three times against Jacksonville. Ray, the Brewers’ 2016 first-round draft pick, joins Brett Phillips (2016) and Michael Choice (2017) in the team record book with his performance. Ray also homered on Tuesday, and his 16 for the season ties the franchise record (Phillips in 2016). Ray is hitting .258/16/49 with 21 stolen bases through 86 games.
RECORD
This year: 55-38 Last year: 52-41
COMING UP
Thursday: Brewers at Pirates, 6:05 p.m. Milwaukee LHP Wade Miley (1-0, 1.42) vs. Pittsburgh RHP Jameson Taillon (5-7, 4.05). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.