Win: LaTroy Hawkins (2-1)
Loss: Burke Badenhop (2-3)
Save: John Axford (45)
HR: Betancourt (13), Infante (7), Bonifacio (4)
MVP: Jerry Hairston (.212)
LVP: Zack Greinke (-.203)
Fangraphs Win Expectancy Graph
Box Score
Zack Greinke wasn't at his sharpest today, but fortunately it didn't matter as the Brewers offense picked him up and gave Milwaukee the win to stay ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second best record in the National League.
Greinke struggled with his pitch count all game and had to leave after just five innings having already thrown 108 pitches. An early exit for him may have been the best thing to happen for the Brewers, though, as he allowed fourteen baserunners (nine hits and five walks) in those five innings. Four of those runners came around to score, including two home runs.
In the meantime, the Brewers managed three runs, trailing Florida by one going into the seventh inning. It was that inning that the bats decided to wake up, though. After a Jonathan Lucroy single, Jerry Hairston sliced a ball into center right field that Bryan Peterson, while trying to make a diving catch, accidentally deflected over Michael Stanton's head. It would up as a double, with Lucroy advancing to third--had he not needed to hold and see if the ball was caught, it's likely he would have scored easily. It didn't matter that he didn't score on that play, though, as Corey Hart, pinch hitting for Nyjer Morgan, doubled in both Lucroy and Hairston. Finally, Braun would knock another double to score Hart.
Braun had a 2-3 day overall, with a walk and a triple added on to that double. He also drove in two runs. Carlos Gomez also had a couple hits and scored two runs. Yuniesky Betancourt and Lucroy both also had two hits, with Yuni hitting a solo homer that tied the game at 3-3 in the fourth inning.
John Axford closed out his forty-fifth game of the season, taking sole possession of the Brewers single-season saves record. He stands one behind Craig Kimbrel for the NL lead, and two behind Jose Valverde for the MLB lead.
And, in case you were curious, the Cardinals won while the Braves lost, so St. Louis is now two games behind Atlanta for the wildcard.