Suffering through a very long night
Missed opportunities, late bullpen collapse costly
CINCINNATI – It doesn’t do any good to play well against playoff-caliber opponents and poorly against lastplace teams. Certainly, not in September. Coming off a solid 4-2 home stand against St. Louis and Washington, the Milwaukee Brewers have taken a twogame pratfall against the dismal Cincinnati Reds. Unable to take advantage of 10 walks and then watching the bullpen let the game get away late, the Brewers fell, 9-3, Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park.
In losing the first two games of the series, the Brewers wasted an opportunity to close ground on the Cubs before the teams meet in Chicago this weekend. Despite losing two straight in Pittsburgh, the Cubs maintained their 31⁄2-game lead in the National League Central.
The Brewers fell two games behind Colorado for the second wild-card spot, pending the Rockies late result against San Francisco.
Before the game, Brewers manager Craig Counsell admitted he has gambled by putting infielder Jonathan Villar in center field to keep his bat in the lineup.
“Frankly, he hasn’t been tested that much,” Counsell said. “He really hasn’t. Look, we’re taking a chance. I understand that. But, though not completely challenged, I think he has handled it well.”
That all changed in the bottom of the third inning, and the Brewers were fortunate it cost them only one run. Pitcher Robert Stephenson led off with a deep drive to center and Villar, who was playing shallow, had it glance off his glove for a two-base error as he raced back.
After Billy Hamilton sacrificed Stephenson to third, Zack Cozart sent a pop fly into shallow center. It wasn’t an easy play for even an experienced centerfielder but Villar charged in, dived and missed the ball, resulting in a RBI double.
Joey Votto’s soft single to right gave the Reds runners on the corners and the chance for a big inning but Adam Duvall grounded into a double play and it stayed 1-0.
After doing nothing against Stephenson over the first three innings, the Brewers had a huge opportunity to do damage in the fourth when Neil Walker walked, Ryan Braun singled to right and Travis Shaw drew a fourpitch walk to load the bases with no outs.
All the Brewers had to do was put a ball in play at that point but they couldn’t do it. Domingo Santana took a called third strike and Stephen Vogt and Jonathan Villar went down swinging, and nothing came of what should have been a real spot for Stephenson.
Davies was rolling along until Scooter Gennett doubled with two down in the sixth inning. When Eugenio Suarez followed with a RBI single to right to make it 2-0, that was all for Davies, who gave way to Oliver Drake.
Just as in the series opener, the Brewers failed to score for six innings before finally getting on the board in the seventh. But, unlike the day before when they scored four runs to tie it, this time they managed only one out of another great opportunity.
Santana and Vogt, who couldn’t make contact in the fourth, ripped doubles to make it a 2-1 game and send Stephenson from the game. After newcomer Quintin Berry ran for Vogt, Villar gambled by bunting with two strikes to get him to third.
Arcia drew a walk to put runners on the corners but, again, when it mattered most, the Brewers couldn’t make contact. Pinch-hitter Jesús Aguilar struck out against Asher Wojciechowski, and after Eric Sogard walked to load the bases, Neil Walker whiffed on three pitches, the last one high and out of the strike zone.
The game got away from the Brewers in the bottom of the inning when Jacob Barnes had a rough outing, allowing four runs in two-thirds of an inning. The outburst was capped by former Brewers second baseman Scooter Gennett, who blasted his 24th homer of the season off Wei-Chung Wang. BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
Counsell said Berry, known primarily for his speed on the base paths, doesn’t have to steal a base to make an impact in a game.
“This is not just about stealing a base,” Counsell said. “This is about scoring from first on a double. This is about scoring from second on a two-out single. It’s about going first to third (on a hit). It’s not just base stealing. All the reports we got is he’s a very good base runner, and really knows what he’s doing out there.”
First baseman Eric Thames, who was 2-for-2 with two homers against Stephenson and has 10 homers against the Reds this season, was not in the starting lineup. He pinchhit in the eighth and drew a walk. STAT SHEET
Davies entered the game with an 8-1 record and 2.13 ERA on the road,
compared to his home mark of 8-6, 5.67.
TAKEAWAY
If the Brewers were looking past Cincinnati to Chicago, they made a big mistake. In losing the first two games to the lastplace Reds, the Brewers did not take advantage of the Cubs losing two in a row to the Pirates. An opportunity wasted. RECORD
This year: 72-67 (39-32 home; 33-35 away)
Last year: 62-77 NEXT GAME
Wednesday: Brewers at Reds, 11:35 a.m. Milwaukee RHP Matt Garza (6-8, 4.77) vs. Cincinnati RHP Luis Castillo (2-7, 3.32). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.