Is pitching help on the way?
Brewers face uncertain week after series finale dud
An 11-4 loss to the Cubs puts focus on Brewers pitching woes. Moves may be made as trade deadline approaches.
After exciting late-inning victories by the Brewers the previous two nights, the drama needle dropped back to zero Sunday afternoon at Miller Park.
The next few days could change that in a big way, however.
Thanks to Kyle Schwarber’s two home runs and seven runs batted in, the Brewers didn’t put up much of a fight in an 11-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs that allowed the visitors to recover from two disheartening losses and avoid a sweep. Now we wait to see what the “probables” will be for the starting rotation for a three-game series in Oakland that begins Tuesday.
“We have another day,” manager Craig Counsell said, referring to the team’s off day on Monday. “Who knows what’s gong to happen. We’ll see what happens tomorrow and with the (trade) deadline and everything. Adrian Houser is going to figure into the series somewhere, but we’ll figure out where.”
As the day came to an end, the Brewers still were down to two healthy starters, Zach Davies and Chase Anderson, with Gio Gonzalez in limbo until his shoulder either comes around or not. And Davies is not trending in the right direction.
By surrendering Schwarber’s grand slam and three-run homer, Davies allowed seven runs for the second consecutive start. In the process, he went from 8-2 with a 2.79 earned run average to 8-4, 3.56. With Brandon Woodruff and Jhoulys Chacín on the injured list, the Brewers can ill afford Davies to go south on them.
“He’s got to make pitches; that’s how it works for any pitcher,” Counsell said of Davies, a finesse pitcher who relies on pinpoint location to succeed. “It’s not just a Zach Davies thing. He’s just got to make pitches. He didn’t make enough in the second inning.”
In that inning, Davies allowed oneout singles to Javy Baéz and Jason Heyward before walking Ian Happ. It was the first of three walks to Happ, who was called up from the minors a few
days earlier and has yet to collect his first hit of 2019, and he scored after all three.
“The walks to Happ killed us today,” Counsell confirmed.
Davies then threw a first-pitch fastball right where Schwarber likes it, and he crushed it 473 feet to right, the second-longest by a visiting player at Miller Park. Just like that, it was 4-0 and it would be 7-0 after Schwarber's threerun homer in the fourth, an oppositefield shot to left on a fastball that was off the plate.
“He got barrel to it; strong guy,” Davies said. “It happens. I looked at it. It was off the plate, but you move on. Can't change it now.”
So, after the scintillating 10-inning victory Saturday night in which Christian Yelich and Keston Hiura took Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel out of the yard, the series concluded with a yawner. The only excitement for Brewers fans over the second half of the game came when two Thunderbirds from the nearby Milwaukee Air & Water Show came screaming over the ballpark at eardrum-busting throttle.
Despite ending the series with a thud, it was a good weekend for the Brewers, who hit the off day Monday one game behind the Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, tied for first place in the NL Central. It stands to reason that president of baseball operations David Stearns is working the phones furiously in hunt of a starting pitcher or two, but at what price?
Asked to handicap the possibility of Stearns acquiring help, Counsell said, “I'm a manager. I don't handicap unless I play the horses. I'm not too good at that either, really.”
As for the importance of what has the making of a grueling nine-game trip to Oakland, Chicago and Pittsburgh, Counsell said, “We're going to start saying that before every trip and every series. Yeah, it's important because of the number of teams that are bunched up. There are so many teams involved that you have to keep pace.
“We're right in the thick of it. We had a good weekend, put ourselves in a good spot. Nine of 10 (days) on the road is challenging but it was a good weekend here.”
We'll know by Wednesday if the Brewers are going to have to make it work with what they have or if the cavalry will come over the hill.
“You don't know what's going to happen,” Davies said. “In the past, there have been trades. Everybody will look to the left and right in here and fight for each other, no matter what happens at the deadline.
“A lot of guys have done a good job of stepping up in spots. This is just another one of those times. Guys are going to step up and battle and fight. And they're going to put up a good fight. Whoever is out there on the hill, everybody is rooting and cheering for.”