Khrushdamentals not enough for Brewers: MIL 4, SF 8

Brewers Starting Pitcher: Kyle Lohse
Opponent Starting Pitcher: Tim Lincecum

Winning Pitcher: Tim Lincecum
Losing Pitcher: Kyle Lohse

HR: Khris Davis x2 (5), Ryan Braun (12), Nori Aoki (2)

FanGraphs' WPA Chart
Boxscore

Let's get the bad part out of the way first. The Brewers lost this game in a big way. It wasn't even close and it was ugly. It was really ugly.

They actually had a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning and Kyle Lohse got the first batter to strikeout. Then the Giants batted around scoring 7 runs in the process. Lohse, Jeremy Jeffress, and Will Smith each pitched in the inning. Smith was the only one not to give up a run.

Things looked way better before that sixth inning hellscape. Khris Davis got the Brewers on the board first with a solo shot. It almost didn't count though.

At first it wasn't clear what was going on. Giants' manager Bruce Bochy came out to talk to the home plate umpire. Then all the umpires gathered around to chat for quite some time. Ryan Braun came to the plate, but Lincecum just lobbed the throw to the catcher who tapped home plate and the umpire made the out sign. The ruling was that Khris Davis didn't touch home plate. It was then on the Brewers to challenge the ruling, which they did. Again, it took a long time for the official decision to come in but it did overrule the out call.

When Khris Davis hit his second home run of the game in his next plate appearance he made sure to touch home plate with gusto. He was not alone however. Ryan Braun launched, and I do mean launched, a two-run home run that traveled 474 feet.

Kyle Lohse was really good until he wasn't. Through the first five innings he struck out 6 batters. He allowed just 3 hits and two walks. Then after one out in the fifth he was tagged for 4 runs (3 earned) after giving up 3 hits and one walk. He was pulled mid-inning so some of those runs came in after he left the game.

Ultimately the Brewers would lose to by a score of 8-4. That drops them to 16-30 on the season.

Offensive Highlight

Khris Davis was 3 for 3 with a walk. He hit a home run in each of his first two plate appearances. He now has a slash line of 245/333/424 (.334 wOBA, 108 wRC+). He's sporting a strong 11.3 BB%. If he can just hit a little more consistently he's going to be a real offensive threat.

Pitching Highlight

Francisco Rodriguez continued his dominant start to the season. He pitched the ninth inning. It wasn't a save opportunity obviously so remember this when people tell you that closers are things and they scuffle when asked to do other things. K-Rod walked the first batter but got two strikeouts and a weak fly out to get through the inning scoreless.

He's currently "on pace" for his best season of his career. He now has a 33.3 K%, 5.3% BB%, 1.13 ERA, 2.15 FIP, 2.19 xFIP. If he keeps this up the Brewers should have no problem dealing him at the trade deadline if they so choose.

Next Game:

Tuesday May 26, 7:10 pm CST: Matt Garza vs Madison Bumgarner