Letting the game go slip, slidin’ away
It was one of those games you hate to see slip away.
With a chance to claim their fourth consecutive series victory, the Milwaukee Brewers couldn't quite get over the hump Sunday, losing to the rebuilding Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5, in 10 innings at American Family Field.
It was Pittsburgh's first series victory in Milwaukee since September 2018.
In dropping their first extra-inning game of the season in three tries, the Brewers wasted a two-homer performance by slugger Daniel Vogelbach as well as an early two-run lead and decent starting effort by Freddy Peralta.
In the end, both teams had hitters they wanted at the plate in the 10th inning, when a runner is put on second base with no outs. Pirates first baseman Colin Moran, who earlier did damage with a three-run homer, lined an RBI double off J.P. Feyereisen for what proved to be the winning run.
Vogelbach, who knew he had to at least get runner Jackie Bradley Jr. to third base, instead flied out to center. Avisaíl García flied out to right against right-hander Richard Rodríguez and Travis Shaw took an inside fastball for strike three to end the game.
“J.P. threw a pretty good pitch to Moran but their hitters are doing a nice job,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “Moran's a tough out, (Bryan) Reynolds is a tough out, (Adam) Frazier's a tough out. Their core guys are really locked in.
“It's one of those games where you get into the late innings and you tie it, you feel like you've got a pretty good chance (to win it) at home but they played well in the end. Even in the last inning, we had the exact scenario we want – Jackie at second and our 2-3-4 hitters up – and Rodriguez just did a nice job.”
Peralta brought a 2-0 record and 0.69 earned run average into the game, with only one run allowed over 13 innings with a whopping 24 strikeouts. He surrendered three runs over five innings, all of them coming on one swing – a home run by Moran with two down in the third inning.
“We had a good plan for pitching
today, but I made a mistake and I paid for it,” said Peralta, who caught too much of the plate with a 1-1 fastball. “I feel really good about what I did. I battled in today's game. But that was a big mistake that I made.
“They've got a good lineup but I think we can make pitches and we can (get) outs and we can win games, even that lineup. For me, we just have to attack the hitters and try to make quick outs.”
The Brewers never had much luck against Pirates right-hander Chad Kuhl in his previous eight outings (seven starts) against them. He was 4-0 with a 1.73 earned run average and Pittsburgh was 7-0 against Milwaukee in those seven starts.
Ignoring that history, the Brewers jumped on Kuhl for a pair of runs in the first inning. Vogelbach got it started with a one-out home run, pulling a 3-1 fastball on the outer half of the plate to right-center for his first home run of the season.
García followed with a bloop single to center, then came all the way around to score on Shaw's double down the rightfield line. Kuhl stopped it there, striking out Keston Hiura looking and retiring Billy McKinney on a fly to center.
Two-out walks usually are not a good thing and that turned out to be the case when Peralta issued one to Phillip Evans in the third inning. Reynolds sent him to third with a double to right and Moran scored everybody with an oppositefield home run, giving the Pirates a 3-2 lead.
“Moran's a tough hitter,” Counsell said. “He's tough on our right-handers for sure. But the two-out walk to Evans was probably the at-bat you want back if anything, to me, to not to get in a spot with some damage on. That's kind of how I saw that inning.
“If you continue to walk guys, it's going to hurt you eventually and I thought today the walk hurt Freddy.”
That lead did not last long. With one down in the bottom of the inning, Kuhl hung a 3-2 slider to García, who sent it over the wall in right-center for a gametying home run. It was García's third homer of the season, one more than he hit in 53 games last season.
The Brewers had a chance to go on top in the fifth when Bradley Jr. ripped a one-out double to right but Kuhl struck out Vogelbach on a 3-2 slider and retired García on a grounder to short.
Left-hander Angel Perdomo took over for Peralta in the sixth and surrendered a leadoff hit by Erik González. Hiura made a nice play on Gregory Polanco's sharp grounder into the hole at second to get the out at first and pinch-hitter Kevin Newman flied out to center but No. 8 hitter Michael Perez walked and that was all for Perdomo.
With switch-hitter Wilmer Difo already announced as the pinch-hitter, right-hander Brad Boxberger came on to strike him out and keep it at 3-3.
Boxberger did not fare as well in the seventh . With Frazier aboard via a leadoff bloop hit, Reynolds got all of a 3-2 fastball, driving it into the second deck in right to put the Pirates on top, 5-3.
Again, Pittsburgh's lead did not last long. With one down in the bottom of the inning, Bradley Jr. bunted to the left side for a hit and Vogelbach struck again, lining a 2-1 fastball from Chris Strattonto right-center for his second homer of the game to tie the score, 5-5.
Devin Williams took over in the eighth, badly in need of a scoreless inning with a 9.82 ERA over his first four outings. Newman singled with one down and moved to second as Vogelbach made a diving stab of a sharp grounder by Perez to get the out at first base.
Williams then caught pinch-hitter
Anthony Alford looking at a changeup for strike three and the game remained deadlocked. Josh Hader took over in the ninth for the Brewers and put down the side in order, striking out the last two batters.
“They played a good game,” Counsell said of the Pirates. “They were solid. They had to use a lot of relievers but they pitched well, they got a couple big hits and there were no mistakes on their part.”
RECORD
Overall: 8-7
Home: 4-5
Away: 4-2
ATTENDANCE
11,772
COMING UP
Monday: Brewers at Padres, 9:10 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Brandon Woodruff (0-0, 2.12) vs. San Diego RHP Joe Musgrove (2-1, 0.47). TV: Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.