Brewers 1/2 game out of wild card after beating Nats
Crew caps off 4-2 home stand by taking 3 of 4 from Nats
Bullpen day wound up being a rousing success for the Milwaukee Brewers in their series finale against the Washington Nationals.
Brent Suter pitched three shutout innings in place of recently deposed starter Matt Garza on Sunday afternoon, then Jeremy Jeffress, Jacob Barnes, Anthony Swarzak and Junior Guerra all followed with similarly effective performances.
Domingo Santana hit a pair of home runs to power the offense, and the Brewers beat the Washington Nationals, 7-2, at Miller Park to cap a 4-2 home stand.
Two batters reached base in the first inning against Suter, via a walk and a single. He escaped the jam, and the Nationals reached base just twice from the second through the eighth.
Ryan Zimmerman’s two-out, two-run homer in the ninth foiled what would have been Milwaukee’s second shutout in three days against NL Eastleading Washington. But with the Colorado Rockies losing, the Brewers pulled to within 1/2 game in the race for the second wild card.
“To keep winning games, you feel like you’re holding serve,” manager Craig Counsell said, whose team is 3 1/2 games behind the Central Division-leading Chicago Cubs with a big three-game series looming at Wrigley Field next weekend.
“That’s what’s important, and that’s where the confidence comes from. I keep saying this, but we’re chasing. And when you’re chasing, the pressure is on to win.
“You feel like you take three out of four on a home stand from a good team, you did your
job.”
Suter & Co. certainly did their job in place of Garza, who was removed from the rotation after a series of inconsistent starts. Suter surrendered two hits and a walk in his 43-pitch, three-inning return from the disabled list and then made way for Jeffress, who followed by pitching two scoreless innings of his own.
Suter r was handed a 1-0 lead thanks to Santana’s second-inning blast to left-center, a 435-foot shot that bounced off the scoreboard, and departed with a 4-0 lead after Ryan Braun doubled in Neil Walker and Santana went deep again in the fourth to plate Braun.
The two-homer game was the second of the season for Santana, and 14 of his homers have either tied a game or put the Brewers ahead. He’s now up to a career-high 24, four away from tying Eric Thames for the team lead.
“He’s been a real consistent player this year overall — credit to him,” Counsell said. “He’s certainly taken a big step forward, and done it kind of quietly.”
Santana is hitting .277 with 69 runs batted in over 130 games. Last year, he hit .256 with 11 homers and 32 RBI after injuries limited him to just 77 games.
“I feel humble about how everything went,” Santana said. “I’m glad it happened last year. I learned a lot from it. I learned I couldn’t take anything for granted. I learned a lot. It makes me keep my head up when things aren’t going my way.”
Jeffress wound up earning the win to run his record to 2-0 with the Brewers. In 11 games, he’s posted a 3.00 ERA while settling into a much different role than the one he had last year as the team’s closer.
“My main focus is just getting outs,” Jeffress said. “It doesn’t matter where I pitch. Every inning should be a ‘closing inning.’ I’m just worried about getting outs.”
Barnes was next, and he struck out four in a dominating sixth and seventh. Swarzak fanned two in the eighth and Junior Guerra, making his first appearance for the Brewers since being demoted to Class AAA Colorado Springs on July 30, struck out the first two batters he faced to make it 16 straight set down by Milwaukee pitchers.
Guerra then walked Daniel Murphy to end the streak before Zimmerman’s homer.
But it was a small blemish, and the Brewers have won six of nine against the Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals and the Nationals. BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
The Brewers fielded a lineup on Saturday night that included eight lefthanded hitters (including switch-hitters) against Nationals starter Max Scherzer.
The last time that occurred was Sept. 28, 2004, at Arizona — Scott Podsednik, Keith Ginter, Lyle Overbay, Geoff Jenkins, Russell Branyan, David Krynzel, Craig Counsell, Mark Johnson, Jorge De La Rosa — with Ginter being the lone right-hander.
With Manny Piña (hip) making his first start since Tuesday, the Brewers actually wound up taking one of their hottest hitters out of the lineup in Stephen Vogt. Vogt is sporting a six-game hitting streak during which he’s posted a .400 average, and he’s hit safely in
10 of 11 games since returning from the disabled list on Aug. 18 (.375).
STAT SHEET
The Brewers’ fiverun margin of victory was their largest since shutting out the Nationals, 8-0, on July 25 at Nationals Park. They also won by four or more runs for just the third time since the all-star break.
With Santana’s two homers, the Brewers now have 195 for the season. That surpasses last season’s total for eighth-most in franchise history. TAKEAWAY
The Brewers lost the shutout late, but to again keep the clamps on the Nationals was impressive indeed. Santana provided more than enough offense, and Milwaukee heads out on its next road trip on a high note. RECORD
This year: 72-65 (39-32 home; 33-33 away)
Last year: 60-77 ATTENDANCE Sunday: 36,937 2017 total: 2,216,770 (31,223 avg.)
Last year: 2,027,156 (28,552 avg.) NEXT GAME
Monday: Brewers at Reds, 12:10 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Chase Anderson (8-3, 2.96) vs. Cincinnati RHP Homer Bailey (4-7, 7.51). TV: FS Wisconsin, ESPN. Radio: AM-620.