Guerra’s status in rotation up in air
Davies might take spot after he is activated
CINCINNATI - Junior Guerra’s time as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers’ rotation appears to be coming to an end.
After the right-hander allowed six runs in a career-low 11⁄3 innings in a 9-7 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park, manager Craig Counsell indicated Guerra’s next scheduled start on Sunday in Washington wasn’t guaranteed.
“We’re going to have to talk about that,” Counsell said later Tuesday night.
With Zach Davies due to be reinstated from the disabled list that same day, and coming off a complete-game shutout in a Class A minor-league start, all
indications would seem to point to a swap-out a day after the calendar flips to the final month of the regular season.
With every game taking on additional meaning with the Brewers fighting for their playoff lives, Guerra picked a bad time to turn in arguably his worst start since earning a spot on Milwaukee’s staff in 2016.
The first four batters reached base against him Tuesday, with José Peraza’s home run four pitches in giving the Reds a quick 2-0 lead. A single and double followed, then after a strikeout a walk and a single netted Cincinnati another run.
A wild pitch with Curt Casali, the Reds’ No. 8 hitter, at the plate made it 4-0 before Guerra finally got himself out of the inning by striking out Casali and opposing starter Anthony DeSclafani.
The second inning didn’t go any better.
The Reds opened with three straight singles, with Guerra getting a gift out when Billy Hamilton was picked off first. After a walk loaded the bases, Counsell pulled the plug on Guerra after only 45 pitches and replaced him with Jordan Lyles.
He was tagged with eight hits, six runs (earned) and two walks to go along with three strikeouts.
A 32⁄3-inning start in a loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Aug. 15 had been Guerra’s shortest coming in. The shortest start of his career was a 21⁄3-inning outing last season in St. Louis.
Wade Miley lasted only one-third of an inning in a start against the Cleveland Indians on May 8, but that was due to an oblique strain that landed him on the disabled list.
“It was a rough night. He just didn’t have a good night,” Counsell said. “They jumped on him right away, the first four guys. Hamilton kind of rolled one through but then the next three guys squared balls up pretty good and you’re down four right away.
“The second inning wasn’t much better, really. There was nothing noticeable. It was just a bad night.”
Guerra didn’t have any explanation for his struggles afterward, either, but did accept blame for digging the Brewers into a hole they were unable to extricate themselves from.
“The first inning was long, was hard and everything was going their way,” he said. “Nothing went my way. I felt like I was in the zone and they were attacking me. There’s really no excuse.”
Guerra, 30, was one of Milwaukee’s most reliable starters in the first half, going 6-6 with a 3.23 ERA in 18 turns.
August was a struggle, however. After going eight innings on Aug. 3, Guerra has gotten progressively worse. He surrendered nine hits in that loss to the Cubs and a career-high 10 in a weird loss to the Reds last week at Miller Park, setting the stage for his latest struggles.
“I just haven’t been doing a good job of commanding my fastball this month, and I think that’s been the difference,” said Guerra, who is 6-9 with a 4.09 ERA in 25 starts. “When I can command I can go longer and you see from the previous month when I was, I was able to go longer into the games.
“I believe that’s probably the main problem that’s going on now.”
Christian Yelich hit a pair of home runs for the first time in his career and also set a new personal mark by driving in a career-high five runs to get the Brewers back into the game.
His three-run shot in the seventh made it a 7-6 game, but the Reds tacked on two more runs against Milwaukee’s bullpen in the bottom half and held on