After a burst on offense in Tuesday’s game, it was hard to come by on Wednesday night. The opener strategy didn’t pay off this time for the Brewers, as Chad Patrick struggled and the Brewers’ offense couldn’t break through the Tigers’ pitching.
The game started quietly for the Brewers’ offense, going down in order against Casey Mize in the first inning. Meanwhile, opener DL Hall ran into some trouble. He walked the first two batters he faced, but got Jahmai Jones to ground into a double play
for the first two outs. Hall escaped the inning with a strikeout of Riley Greene.
Mize continued rolling through the second, but did allow a single to Brandon Lockridge. That was it as he struck out two Brewers on his way to a scoreless second inning. Hall’s second inning went better, this time retiring the side in order as the game remained scoreless.
In the third, the Brewers scored first thanks to some two-out offense. After Brice Turang drew a two-out walk — extending his on-base streak to 21 games — he stole second to get in scoring position. On the next pitch, William Contreras singled to center, and Turang scored, putting the Brewers up 1-0.
That staked Patrick to a one-run lead as he entered the game. His day started well with a scoreless third, working around a walk of Jake Rogers. Meanwhile, Mize rebounded in the fourth with a 1-2-3 inning.
Patrick started to falter in the bottom of the fourth. Greene hit a one-out single to center, which set up Spencer Torkelson. He hit a sinker that was down the middle out to left-center field, giving the Tigers a 2-1 lead. He continued to unravel in a rough 37-pitch fifth inning. After Javier Báez hit a leadoff single, a 10-pitch at-bat went to McGonigle, who doubled to drive in Báez. Colt Keith then brought in McGonigle with an RBI single, increasing the Tigers’ lead to 4-1.
As for Mize, the Brewers didn’t have another scoring chance against him. He finished the day after six innings with one run allowed on three hits. He struck out seven Brewers and walked three. Meanwhile, Patrick got through the sixth but it was his worst day so far this year. He allowed four runs on six hits and a walk in four innings. He only struck out two.
The Brewers did get a second run in the eighth, cashing in a leadoff single from Luis Rengifo. After he moved up on a Contreras groundout, Jake Bauers drove him in with a single to make it a 4-2 game. However, the Tigers responded with a solo home run by Kerry Carpenter off of Carlos Rodriguez, pushing it back to a three-run lead. That was the only run Rodriguez allowed in two innings of relief.
With one more chance in the ninth, the Brewers made it interesting against Tigers’ closer Kenley Jansen. Lockridge hit a one-out bloop single into right for the first baserunner. After Sal Frelick worked a nine-pitch at-bat into a fly out, David Hamilton and Rengifo worked back-to-back walks to load the bases and drive Jansen’s pitch count up to 33. Turang had a chance to tie it or take the lead, but a ground out to Torkelson at first ended the game.
The Tigers kept the Brewers’ offense mostly in check, limiting them to six hits and five walks. Lockridge was the only Brewer with multiple hits, going 2-for-4. Turang also reached base twice with two walks, and Rengifo had a hit and a walk.
This sets up the rubber match for tomorrow afternoon, and the Brewers will have a challenge ahead of them. They will have to go through Tigers’ starter and two-time AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal to earn the series win. Meanwhile, Brandon Sproat will get the call for the Brewers. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 p.m.
