Brewers 2, Diamondbacks 1: A Strange Ending

Win: John Axford (2-5)
Loss: Patrick Corbin (2-4)

HR: Kubel (12)

MVP: Gallardo (.311 WPA)
LVP: F. Rodriguez (-.148 WPA)

Fangraphs Win Expectancy Graph

Carlos Gomez running the basepaths can either be extremely fun or extremely frustrating. Today, it was fantastic. With the game tied 1-1 in the ninth inning, Aramis Ramirez led off the bottom of the inning with a walk. Brewers manager Ron Roenicke lifted Ramirez in favor of Gomez to pinch-run. After a Corey Hart flyout, Rickie Weeks came to the plate. Rickie Weeks is not an important player in what was to come.

The Diamondbacks were clearly worried that Gomez might try to steal second, as they looked over routinely and threw over to first to keep him honest. That didn't really matter. After a pickoff throw and ball one to Weeks, Gomez made his move, streaking to second. Diamondbacks catcher Migel Montero's throw was off (error #1), allowing Gomez to move to third. Gerardo Parra's throw in to third was also off (error #2) and went into the stands, allowing Gomez to trot into home for the walkoff win. If you give someone as fast as Carlos Gomez two errors, he'll go from first to home just like that. That's the lesson to take away from this one, opposing teams.

Yovani Gallardo pitched a great game today. He started off on fire, striking out six batters in his first three innings. He wouldn't strike out anyone else the rest of the game, but he was effective nonetheless. Gallardo went 6.2 shutout innings, allowing just three hits. Of course, he also gave up five walks. Part of that was due to a shrinking strike zone as the game went on, but part of it was also due to Gallardo's erratic control. It didn't come back to bite him today, thankfully, but that's something he can't keep doing.

Walks and Weeks contributed to Gallardo not being able to finish the seventh inning. After two quick outs, Gallardo walked Chris Young. A fielding error by Rickie Weeks followed by a throwing error by Rickie Weeks allowed Willie Bloomquist to reach base and Chris Young to move to third. Finally, a walk to Stephen Drew prompted Roenicke to make a move to the bullpen. Jose Veras preserved Gallardo's shutout by shutting down Justin Upton with a strikeout.

The shutout didn't last much longer. Francisco Rodriguez gave up a home run to Jason Kubel to start off the eighth inning, tying the game at one apiece. The Brewers had previously taken the lead in the fourth thanks to a Norichika Aoki ground-rule double, a wild pitch moving him to third, and a Nyjer Morgan groundout that brought Aoki in to score. Good old 2012 Brewers bullpen, performing right up to expectations.

Thankfully, Carlos Gomez was given such a great opportunity in the ninth to win the game. The Brewers offense had been struggling all day, with Josh Collmenter holding the Brewers to three hits and one run in six innings. For someone who had been struggling so much as a starter this season, Collmenter sure looked good today. Aoki and Aramis Ramirez both reached base twice: Aoki with two hits, and Ramirez with a hit and a walk.

John Axford gave up a hit, but struck out two hitters to preserve the tie in the ninth inning.

The Brewers move on to a series with the Miami Marlins. This is the first time Milwaukee will play the Marlins this season. Unfortunately, the game is at Miller Park so we will not yet see the Marlins' new stadium and glorious home run thing. Carlos Zambrano vs Zack Greinke with first pitch scheduled for 7:10.