The Brewers nearly won a pitching duel between Tarik Skubal and Brandon Sproat, but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. Milwaukee is now two games over .500 after dropping the final two games against Detroit.
Rookie standout Kevin McGonigle led off the bottom of the first with a double. Sproat got the next two batters to ground out, but his first pitch to Tigers cleanup hitter Riley Greene was a slow curveball that Greene crushed for a two-run homer. Not an ideal start for a team facing Skubal.
Skubal,
one of the best pitchers in the game, did what he was expected to do against a top-heavy Brewers lineup. Through six innings, he’d allowed just four hits — two of them bunts — and one run. Skubal didn’t give up a single hit his first time through the order, but Milwaukee got on the board the second time around thanks to back-to-back doubles from William Contreras and Gary Sánchez in the fourth.
Meanwhile, Sproat also settled in after the first inning. He allowed just one other hit — a single to Javier Baez — through five innings, keeping it a 2-1 game.
Sproat retired Gleyber Torres to start the sixth, but walked designated hitter Colt Keith. With Greene coming up again, Pat Murphy pulled Sproat in favor of lefty Aaron Ashby — a move that didn’t pay off as Greene singled to advance Keith to third. Dillon Dingler then grounded into a forceout to make it a two-run ballgame.
Meanwhile, as Skubal got deeper into the game, the Brewers started making him work harder. David Hamilton and Brandon Lockridge had back-to-back bunt singles to start the sixth, but Brice Turang grounded out and Contreras hit into a double play to end the inning.
Milwaukee threatened again in the seventh after Sánchez led off with a bloop single. Luis Matos went fishing for a changeup low-and-away, grounding it into right field to put runners on first and second.
The next batter up was Blake Perkins, who swung out of his shoes for strike one. He tried to lay down a bunt on the second pitch, a fastball, but it ran inside and he wasn’t able to get his hands out of the way. Strike two. Perkins took ball three high, then fouled off strike three. Skubal’s fifth pitch was a beautiful changeup that dropped just out of the strike zone, but Perkins held off to work the count full.
On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Skubal tried to blow a high-and-inside fastball by Perkins, but he turned on it and sent it down the left field line for a double. Sánchez and Matos both scored, tying the game at 3 and prompting Tigers manager A.J. Hinch to come out and take the ball.
Lefty reliever Tyler Holton came in to face Luis Rengifo, who grounded out for the first out. Joey Ortiz, once again hitting with a runner in scoring position, came through with a single into left field. That put runners on the corners for David Hamilton, who grounded a single that scored Perkins and put the Brewers ahead by a run.
Trevor Megill came in for the seventh and got three straight groundouts. Angel Zerpa quickly recorded the first out of the eighth, but pinch-hitter Jahmai Jones tied the game with a solo home run. Milwaukee couldn’t score in the top of the ninth, so Abner Uribe came on to try and force extra innings. His first four pitches went for strikes, but the next three were balls, and Spencer Torkelson sent the eighth pitch into the bleachers for a walk-off home run.
The Brewers are back home tomorrow for a three-game set against the 14-10 Pirates. Paul Skenes will be on the mound for Pittsburgh opposite Brandon Woodruff. First pitch is 6:40 p.m.
