Leftovers get swept away
Emotions running low with loss of key players
The Milwaukee Brewers already were sagging when key players were traded away before the Friday deadline.
But no opponent is going to feel sorry for the undermanned Brewers. And they certainly can’t start feeling sorry for themselves.
The latter was a possibility Sunday after the Brewers lost once again to the Chicago Cubs, 4-3, getting swept in the four-game series at bipartisan Miller Park.
It was the fifth consecutive loss for the last-place Brewers and 10th in 12 games, a skid in which they have scored 25 runs. They scored only eight runs in the four games against the Cubs.
“I think we competed,” said manager Craig Counsell. “We’re just not swinging the bats well.”
It certainly didn’t help that Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Gomez and Gerardo Parra were traded away as the team’s rebuilding plan was put in motion. But the holdovers must pick up the slack while inexperienced players get opportunities that aren’t normally there.
“It’s challenging, obviously,” said rightfielder Ryan Braun, one of the few Brewers to show any offensive life with three of the team’s eight hits. “We weren’t having a lot of success when we had all those guys.
“You take away three of our best five or six hitters, it’s going to make it more challenging. But I think for all of us, you have to embrace the challenge. A lot of guys are getting an opportunity to try to prove themselves at this level, try to prove themselves as everyday players, and you never know when it will be your last opportunity to get that chance.
“Hopefully, everybody embraces it and recognizes this opportunity might not ever come around again.”
It’s certainly been a challenging season for veteran starter Kyle Lohse, who had another tough day
(nine hits, four runs in 41⁄3 innings). Lohse fell to 5-13 with a 6.31 earned run average, and for the first time, Counsell did not say afterward he would get another start.
“We have to discuss that in the next couple days,” said Counsell. “He struggled today and we need better for him.”
Management hoped Lohse, in the final year of his contract, would pitch well enough before the trade deadline to find a buyer, but that didn’t happen. He could still get through waivers and be dealt this month, but that is unlikely, and with the rebuild underway a younger starter is in order.
Lohse surrendered his 25th homer, a two-out shot by No. 9 hitter Addison Russell in the second inning, but otherwise was bled to death by a series of singles and an RBI double by pitcher Clayton Richard.
“They just hit a lot of balls down, off the end of the bat,” said Lohse, who hasn’t won since July 1 at Philadelphia. “Maybe I could have pitched in a little more, but really that’s the style I’ve been doing. You don’t expect that many balls down on the corner to keep falling for hits.”
As for his overall woes, Lohse added, “It’s frustrating. I’m going into every start with the same mentality I’ve always had. I’m going to be aggressive; I’m going to make pitches. I’ve been around awhile. Had some good, some bad. Just keep going.”
It was one thing for the Brewers’ offense to be shut down in the first three games by Jake Arrieta, Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks, all solid starters for the Cubs. But the hitters were mowed down in the finale by Richard, who was called up from the minors as a onegame fill-in and had a 5.97 ERA in seven previous starts against the Brewers.
In six innings, Richard allowed only five hits and one run. He began a string of outs that extended to 16 hitters in a row entering the ninth inning, when the Brewers finally showed some offensive spunk.
With the aid of an error by shortstop Starlin Castro, the Brewers scored two runs off Hector Rondon and had two on base when pinch-hitter Logan Schafer lined out to center to end the game.
“I think there’s an emotional letdown sometimes when you get rid of five guys that have been a part of what we’ve been trying to accomplish,” said Braun.
“We have to do everything we can to just keep the energy level up, continue to stay positive and continue to compete the best we can, prepare the best we can and go about things the right way.”