Box Score
The Milwaukee Brewers beat the New York Mets 8-1 in the second game of their three-game set on Wednesday evening, but the story of the night was Dustin May’s injury just one pitch into the game.
Things started nicely for Sal Frelick in his return from injury, as he drilled a 103.6-mph single off the glove of Jared Young at first. He’d advance to third on a walk (by Brice Turang) and a groundout, but Milwaukee couldn’t cash it in as William Contreras popped out to end the inning.
That’s when
things got rough.
On the first pitch of the game from May, Mets outfielder A.J. Ewing lined it right back where it came from with a 106-mph exit velocity. It deflected off May to third baseman David Hamilton, who recorded the out at first, but May exited after a visit from the trainer with what was later described as a “right scapula contusion,” AKA a bruised shoulder blade.
With May gone after just one pitch, it was Robert Gasser, originally slated to pitch on Sunday, who entered the game. Gasser finished the inning on just four pitches, but the Brewers were in a bullpen hole early in their second game of a 16-game, 16-day stretch.
Looking for some offense, Milwaukee immediately strung together some hits against Robert Stock in the second.
Luis Lara, Andrew Vaughn, David Hamilton, Cooper Pratt, Frelick, and Garrett Mitchell hit six consecutive singles, putting runners at the corners with no outs and a 4-0 lead.
The rally was put to a halt there, though, as Mitchell was caught stealing second on what looked like it may have been an effort to induce a throw for Frelick to run home from third (which he didn’t), which was shortly followed by a fielder’s choice groundout at home and another groundout to end the frame.
Gasser, back for his first full inning in the second, worked around a pair of two-out singles for a scoreless frame. He then worked around more traffic in the third, allowing a single and a walk as well as a pair of stolen bases, but the Mets were unable to get anything across.
I interrupt your regularly scheduled recap to offer you a bonus clip of the squirrel that was seen running around Citi Field in the middle of the game, even causing a brief delay on the field.
Back to the recap: In the fourth, Milwaukee added to the lead against Stock, as Pratt singled and Mitchell singled to put runners at the corners with one out and Turang at the plate. Turang fell behind 1-2, but after fouling off a few pitches, he handled a sweeper on the inner-third of the zone and promptly put it into the bullpen in right-center for his 17th homer of the year, extending Milwaukee’s lead to 7-0.
Gasser had yet another traffic-heavy inning in the fourth, as, after recording two groundouts, he walked Brett Baty and allowed a pair of singles to Marcus Semien and Francisco Alvarez, giving New York their first run of the game to make it 7-1.
Milwaukee tacked on another in the sixth against reliever Chayce McDermott, who allowed a double to Frelick, walked Turang, and gave up a run-scoring single to Yelich, extending the lead to 8-1.
Gasser, who provided the length that was needed in the moment, exited with two outs in the bottom of the sixth after allowing another two-out single. It wasn’t the best game for Milwaukee’s lefty, but he did his job, spanning 5 1/3 innings with one run allowed on six hits and a pair of walks, striking out six.
Grant Anderson took over from Gasser and, after allowing a single, retired the next four hitters in order to get Milwaukee to the eighth inning with an 8-1 lead.
Bryse Wilson then worked around a pair of singles to get out of a jam in the eighth, Lara just missed what would have been his second career homer (first in the non-position player pitching category), and Wilson set the Mets down in order in the ninth, and this one was over.
The Brewers snapped a two-game skid with their 82nd victory tonight, and May’s injury seems like the best-case scenario given the scary scene in the first — we’ll keep you posted as we learn more.
Offensively, every starter with the exception of Contreras had at least one hit, with Frelick (three hits, two RBIs) and Turang (three-run homer, two walks) leading the way.
Gasser picked up a well-deserved win in relief, and Anderson and Wilson preserved the seven-run lead over the final 3 1/3 innings.
Milwaukee will go for the win in Thursday’s rubber match, as Jacob Misiorowski is slated to pitch opposite Sean Manaea for New York. For the third straight night, first pitch is set for 6:10 p.m.
