Brewers 4, Marlins 6: Jungmann stumbles, Santana thrives

Win: Barraclough (2-0)
Loss: Jungmann (9-6)
Save: Ramos (24)

HR: Santana (7), Realmuto 2 (9)

Boxscore

In 16 starts heading into Tuesday night's game against the Marlins, Brewers pitcher Taylor Jungmann had allowed more than two runs just twice. Think about that. That's incredible. Jungmann had a 2.42 ERA and a 3.04 FIP as a rookie pitcher.

Jungmann's 17th Major League start, though, did not go quite as well. He lasted just 3.2 innings overall, allowing six earned runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out three batters. The Marlins scored a run on him in each of the first three innings, then got two more on him before he was pulled in the fourth inning. Cesar Jimenez gave up another run that was counted on Jungmann's line. J.T. Realmuto had two home runs against the right-hander, including an inside-the-park-homer to start the fourth.

It's not a terrible thing for Jungmann to struggle, of course. It was bound to happen at some point -- Clayton Kershaw, Pedro Martinez, Cy Young...every pitcher has a bad night, no matter how good they are. Jungmann isn't anywhere near the level of those guys, but he's been pitching absurdly well in 2015. One bad night won't change that, but it gives us an opportunity to see how well he can bounce back from such an outing. That's a valuable insight, and the kind of thing the Brewers should be looking to learn with the season in the tank.

Another player the team is certainly hoping to find out more about is Domingo Santana. That above inside the park home run is an out, if Carlos Gomez were still patrolling center field for Milwaukee. Santana, though, is not a natural center fielder and couldn't make the play, allowing that run to come in. The Brewers don't have a center fielder on the active roster who will be expected to play the position long-term, though, and they want to get Santana at-bats. So, they improvise. It didn't work out on that play so well, but it's not a play Santana should need to make very often in the future since he'll eventually be in a corner spot. Again, the Brewers don't really need to win, so they're not hurt by his defense.

And Santana's offense looked good on Tuesday. His first at-bat, in the second inning, he worked to an 0-2 count before blasting a 93 MPH fastball into right field for a two-run homer. In the fourth inning, he took four straight balls for a leadoff walk. In the fifth, he took two balls before a couple of swinging strikes brought it to an 2-2 count. Two more balls gave him another walk. He finally made an out in the seventh when he struck out, but not before working a full count. Then, with the Brewers down two in the ninth, he singled to lead off the inning and give the Brewers at least a chance to get back into it.

That made a 2-3 night for Santana with two walks, a homer and a strikeout. In five appearances, he saw 23 pitches. He has some trouble with strikeouts and making contact, sure, but at just 23 years old, it's incredibly easy to be excited about Santana when he has nights like that.

Jean Segura also had a good night, picking up three singles though he was shaken up a bit after sliding into first on one of them. Ryan Braun also stayed hot, picking up three hits and scoring a run. Jason Rogers was 2-5 with two runs and an RBI.

The Brewers and Marlins go one more time tomorrow. First pitch is set for 6:10 CT.