The Milwaukee Brewers found themselves on the wrong side of a few late-inning rallies by the Nationals on Sunday afternoon, as Washington put up six runs against Milwaukee’s bullpen to pick up a sweep and extend the Brewer losing streak to five.
Brandon Woodruff started the afternoon out looking fantastic, setting the top of the Washington lineup down in order with a pair of strikeouts. Brice Turang started the bottom of the inning with a single, but would be wiped out on a force out from
Christian Yelich, who just beat out the throw to first upon review. The lead baserunner would go for naught, though, as Garrett Mitchell followed with a three-pitch strikeout to end the inning.
Both teams then traded 1-2-3 innings until Turang slugged a two-out homer into Milwaukee’s bullpen in the bottom of the third to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead after three.
James Wood responded right away in the top of the fourth, hitting a solo shot of his own for the Nationals’ first hit and first run. The Nats wouldn’t stop there, though as Luis García Jr. reached on a fielding error by Jake Bauers at first before moving to third on a Daylen Lile double and scoring on a CJ Abrams sac fly, putting Washington up 2-1.
The Brewers knotted it back up in the bottom of the inning with another solo shot, this time from Jake Bauers. Woodruff worked around a single and a walk in the fifth to keep the game even at 2-2, and Turang would give Milwaukee the lead right back in the bottom of the inning with his second solo homer of the day, this time to right-center.
Two batters later, though, Gary Sánchez entered as a pinch-hitter for Yelich in an unexpected move. He would pop up, and it was reported by Sophia Minnaert just an inning later that Yelich exited with left hamstring tightness. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more, but hopefully it was just a precautionary move.
After the two teams traded scoreless half-innings in the sixth, things quickly went awry when Abner Uribe took over for Woodruff in the seventh.
Jacob Young started things off with a double into the gap, and after a misplay by Mitchell off the wall, Young coasted into third. Uribe was able to get the next hitter to pop out, but pinch-hitter José Tena got a single through the pulled-in infield to tie it up at 3-3 with still just one out.
Uribe got the next batter, Nasim Nuñez, to line out, and Pat Murphy opted to replace Uribe with lefty Angel Zerpa with the lefty Wood at the plate. After a wild pitch moved Tena up to second, Wood would reach on a walk. Another pinch-hitter, Curtis Mead, entered to face Zerpa, and he dumped a single into center to score the go-ahead run and put runners at the corners with two outs.
Now at 4-3, the Nationals looked to extend the lead with a delayed steal of home, as Mead took off for second and Wood went home on the throw. The throw home was late, but home plate umpire Carlos Torres inexplicably called Wood out. Upon review, it was very clear that Wood beat the throw, and the call was overturned to give Washington a 5-3 lead. Brady House followed with another RBI single to make it 6-3 before the inning was all said and done, and Milwaukee’s offense would have to dig itself out of a hole in the final three frames.
Ken Waldichuk, who had already pitched a scoreless sixth, came back out and got two quick outs. During Turang’s plate appearance, however, Waldichuk fell into a 2-0 hole and, on the second ball, he came up grimacing and clenching his throwing arm. Not a good sign.
Waldichuk was immediately removed, and his replacement, Cole Henry, proceeded to walk Turang, walk Contreras, and fall into another 2-0 hole against Sánchez, the second ball of which was overturned upon a Sánchez-initated review. The next pitch, a cutter near the bottom of the zone, promptly found a home in the left-field bleachers as Sánchez gave the Crew some life and tied the game at 6-6.
PJ Poulin took over for Henry and gave up a single to Mitchell before retiring Bauers to end the inning. It was a long, high-scoring inning, as the Nationals put up four runs before Milwaukee’s three runs to tie it — brand-new ballgame with just two innings left in regulation.
Zerpa remained in for the eighth, but he continued to struggle, giving up back-to-back singles to Abrams and Young to put runners at the corners with one out. Jorbit Vivas followed with a sac bunt that moved Young to second but didn’t score Abrams from third, as Zerpa was pulled in favor of Aaron Ashby.
Ashby got Keibert Ruiz into a 1-1 count before Ruiz was able to fight off a pitch below the zone for a single up the middle, scoring both runners and allowing Ruiz to move to second on the throw. Ashby was able to set the next two hitters down, but the damage was done with Washington now ahead 8-6.
The Brewers went down in order in the bottom of the inning, and Jake Woodford worked around a pair of singles in the ninth to keep the deficit at two.
Former Brewer Gus Varland came on for his first career save opportunity with the Nats up by two, and he made quick work of Joey Ortiz, Turang, and Contreras with a strikeout, groundout, and flyout, respectively, locking up the game and series sweep for Washington.
Woodruff got a quality start with six innings of work, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk while striking out six. Uribe and Zerpa both got roughed up, as Uribe allowed two runs and Zerpa gave up four. Ashby and Woodford both had scoreless afternoons for the bullpen.
Offensively, the Brewers once again got all of their runs via the long ball, with Turang slugging a pair of solo shots, Bauers adding a solo homer, and Sánchez hitting the big game-tying three-run shot that gave Milwaukee some late life. Turang led the squad with three hits and a walk today, while Bauers was the only other player with multiple hits.
It was another rough series for the Brewers after they lost two of three in Boston to begin the week, and they’re now in the midst of a five-game skid. They’ll get another off day on Monday to try to shake off the boogeyman before welcoming the reigning AL Champion Toronto Blue Jays to town for three games beginning on Tuesday night. First pitch in that one is set for 6:40 p.m., with Jacob Misiorowski slated to face Kevin Gausman.
