Late rally isn’t enough for Milwaukee
The Milwaukee Brewers got some more late-inning offense against the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.
But this time, it wasn’t enough to pull out another victory.
Jackson Chourio’s two-run home run in the eighth got the Brewers on the board and they made things even more interesting later in the inning only to fall short of drawing even or taking the lead.
And in the end, Milwaukee fell to the Seattle Mariners, 5-3, at American Family Field.
“Their closer (Andrés Muñoz) came back and showed why he’s one of the great ones,” manager Pat Murphy said. “He threw the ball great. But we didn’t stop competing.
“That’s all I can ask for.” Starter DL Hall turned in a solid outing but was done in by one unlucky inning in the third while William Contreras accounted for two of the Brewers’ five hits on the night.
Luis Urías gets some revenge
Luis Urías, whom the Brewers traded last season at the deadline, lined a leadoff homer to left off Hoby Milner to start the ninth and make a Milwaukee comeback a little more challenging.
Muñoz -- who lost his control in the ninth and walked in the winning run the night before -- retired all three batters he faced this time to send Milwaukee to defeat.
Jackson Chourio gets Milwaukee back into it
Seattle manager Scott Servais chose to remove right-hander Bryce Miller, who dominated Milwaukee for seven innings and 78 pitches.
It proved to be a questionable move, as Austin Voth entered and promptly surrendered a walk and then a booming homer to left by Chourio to pull the Brewers to within 4-2.
“You’ve got to live with those first three at-bats; they were horrid,” Murphy said. “I’m thinking to myself, ‘Wow, this kid’s going through some growing pains. He’s getting taught a lesson here. Then, to come back and do that shows you what the kid’s made of.”
Three consecutive walks followed to load the bases for pinch-hitter Rhys Hoskins, who just missed a game-turning grand slam. As it were, he settled for a sacrifice fly to the warning track in left to make it 4-3.
“Hoskins just missed that ball,” said Murphy. “That’s a different ballgame (if it falls, or goes out). Great pinch-hit (performance).”
Joey Ortiz was called upon to pinchhit at that point, but he grounded out.
DL Hall takes another step forward
No doubt, Hall had his eyes on his first career quality start when he took to the mound in the sixth.
He finished two outs shy as Murphy pulled him in favor of Bryse Wilson after Hall walked Dylan Moore. Gary Sánchez then threw Moore out trying to steal second and Wilson got Urías on a called third strike with a big breaking ball.
“I thought Gary Sánchez did a great job first day catching,” Murphy said of the free-agent signee, who saw his first action of 2024 behind the plate. “I thought he controlled the tempo. Gary made a great throw to throw the guy out, and (Brice) Turang with a great tag.” In 5 1⁄ innings, Hall (0-1) allowed eight
3 hits, three runs and two walks with five strikeouts while throwing 90 pitches -in all, a strong start for the youngster.
“That kid, he’s got the right stuff,” Murphy said. “He does. He’s got the right stuff inside. He’s a great competitor. He’s still got training wheels on as far as learning to be a starting pitcher. His stuff still isn’t where it’s going to be, but he’s getting better and better.
“To give us an outing like that -- he didn’t give up an extra-base hit -- and compete against a really good lineup, that’s encouraging.”
The 90 pitches were far and away a career high for Hall in just his third major-league start; he threw 73 over four innings last Saturday in his Brewers debut against the New York Mets and 76 in his major-league debut with the Baltimore Orioles in August 2022.
“It’s huge,” Hall said of getting his pitch count up. “After going four in New York and going out for the sixth today, it’s a huge step in the right direction. I haven’t been able to do that in a long time (the minor leagues), so to be able to do that is an accomplishment.”
Seattle singles five times in the third
There was some bad luck mixed in for Hall in the third as Samad Taylor led off with a perfectly placed bunt single and JP Crawford followed with a blooper to left.
Then came a chopper to center by Julio Rodríguez, a one-out, ground-ball single by Mitch Haniger and then a shot off Oliver Dunn’s glove at third base by Mitch Garver that gave the Mariners a 3-0 lead.
Hall finally got out of the inning by inducing a 5-4-3 double play off the bat of Cal Raleigh.
“It’s one of those things. Obviously, not what you’re looking for,” Hall said. “But you’ve just got to kind of tip your cap. I was executing the pitches and getting the ground balls, and they just found holes today.
“Definitely frustrating. Sometimes you’d almost rather guys get barrel off of you so you feel like they earned it. But they found holes. Next time, they’ll probably be scooped up.”