Smooth sailing
Milwaukee has a much-needed, well-balanced game
A Milwaukee Brewers team in desperate need of a feel-good performance got exactly what it was seeking on Monday night.
Jhoulys Chacín turned in one of his best starts of the season and Erik Kratz and Christian Yelich combined to drive in five runs as the Brewers beat the Washington Nationals, 6-1, at Miller Park.
Chacín allowed just two hits and one run while striking out a seasonhigh nine over 52⁄3 innings. Kratz, meanwhile, provided some unexpected offense out of the eighth spot in the lineup and Yelich broke the game open with a bases-clearing triple in the sixth.
Daniel Murphy’s leadoff home run in the second gave Washington a quick 1-0 lead – a bad start for a Milwaukee team that was still reeling from the news earlier in the day that Brent Suter would need season-ending elbow surgery and had been drubbed, 11-2, by the Los Angeles Dodgers the day before.
But the Brewers got that run back in the bottom of the frame.
Travis Shaw and Tyler Saladino both drew walks from Gio Gonzalez, to put two on with nobody out for Hernán Pérez. He popped out, but Kratz sent a sacrifice fly to left that made it 1-1.
It was Kratz who put the Brewers ahead to stay in the fourth, with his bases-loaded groundout deep into the hole at shortstop. Chacín then helped himself by slapping an RBI single through almost the same spot to up Milwaukee’s lead to 3-1.
Chacín (9-3), who struck out the side after Murphy’s homer, worked around Saladino’s second error in the third and then went on to retire 10 of the final 11 batters he faced.
He allowed just two hits without a walk – his second consecutive outing without issuing a free pass.
The Brewers broke the game open in the sixth.
Kratz was once again in the middle of the action, drawing a two-out walk.
Nate Orf followed with a single and Brett Phillips with an eight-pitch walk to load the bases for Yelich, who sent a hard chopper down the first-base line.
The ball hopped past Zimmerman and rolled all the way into the right-field corner, clearing the bases and providing a scuffling Milwaukee offense some rare breathing room.
Josh Hader, Brandon Woodruff, Dan Jennings and Jacob Barnes combined for 31⁄3 innings of scoreless relief behind Chacín to close out the game.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
QUICK EXIT: Washington hitting coach Kevin Long was ejected by homeplate umpire Nic Lentz in the second inning after Trea Turner was called out on strikes and Long argued from the dugout.
Long’s replacement? Former Brewers utility man Joe Dillon, who played 95 games with Milwaukee over the 2007’08 seasons.
IT’S BEEN A WHILE: When Hernán Pérez and Kratz combined to pitch the final three innings on Sunday, it marked just the second time the Brewers had multiple position players pitch in the same game.
The only other time it happened was on Aug. 29, 1979, when Sal Bando pitched three innings and Jim Gantner and Buck Martinez each pitched one in an 18-8 loss at Kansas City.
HELP ON THE WAY: Right-hander Zach Davies said all systems were go after his roughly 35-pitch live battingpractice session Monday. The plan now is for Davies to join Class A Wisconsin for a 35-pitch start Thursday in Peoria, then wrap up his minor-league rehab with a pair of starts for Class AAA Colorado Springs. Davies has been on the disabled list since June 1 with both a shoulder and a back issue.
THAMES GETTING CLOSER: Eric Thames, on the DL since July 14 with a strained right hamstring, ramped up his workouts with an eye on potentially returning to action on Tuesday – the first day he’s eligible to do so.
SAME GOES FOR AGUILAR: Jesús Aguilar, sidelined the past couple games with a sore left hamstring, also appears to be nearing a return. Aguilar said he should be recovered enough to return Tuesday, but Brewers manager Craig Counsell pumped the brakes on that a bit.
“Marked improvement today from his end but still, there’s enough soreness that we’re going to be cautious,” said Counsell.
RECORD
This year: 57-45 Last year: 54-48
ATTENDANCE
Monday: 26,073
This year: 1,797,712 (34,571 avg.) Last year: 1,535,667 (29,532 avg.)
COMING UP
Tuesday: Milwaukee RHP Junior Guerra (6-6, 3.23) vs. Washington RHP Jeremy Hellickson (4-1, 3.29). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.