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W: Carlos Marmol (1-1)
L: John Axford (0-2)
S: Kyuji Fujikawa (2)
HR: None
MVP: Jean Segura (+.214 WPA)
LVP: Mike Gonzalez (-.242 WPA)
When you remove a longtime closer from his ninth inning role, usually you move him into lower-leverage innings with the hope he'll figure it out in low-risk situations. Tonight the Brewers did the opposite of that.
Mike Gonzalez had already blown a Brewer lead in the seventh inning when Ron Roenicke put Axford into a 3-3 game tonight, and he got the final out in the inning. If Axford had come out at that point, it might have been a positive development for him, his first scoreless outing of the season. Instead, Ron Roenicke sent him back out for the eighth, mirroring the mistake that cost him a game on Sunday.
Axford responded by allowing a leadoff double, sac bunt, intentional walk and an unintentional walk, leaving the game with the bases loaded and one out and picking up the loss when all three runners eventually came around to score.
Another bad night for the Brewer bullpen washed away a strong outing for Wily Peralta, who allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits over 6.2 innings. He was lifted with a runner on and two outs in the seventh despite having thrown just 94 pitches, and Mike Gonzalez allowed a double to the only batter he faced to drive the tying run home.
Jean Segura had a couple of hits tonight and one of them was a triple. He twisted his ankle rounding third on the triple. It's been that kind of year already.
The Brewers will get another chance to find a way to lose when this trainwreck of a team faces the Cubs again tomorrow. Kyle Lohse faces Scott Feldman at 7:05.