Garza serves up three dingers as Milwaukee Brewers lose to Toronto 8-4

Box Score

The Milwaukee Brewers entered play today with a record of 25-20 and a 1.5 game lead in the National League Central. They had lost two games in a row, however, giving today’s game against the 20-26 Blue Jays a feeling of a bit more importance as the Milwaukee Nine look to stay around the top of the standings as we near Memorial Day.

The Brewers sent their top performing starter this season to the mound in Matt Garza, who had posted a 2.43 ERA/3.47 FIP through his first 29.2 innings of the season after coming back from the disabled list. He looked pretty sharp to start the day, retiring the first 9 batters he faced while recording three strikeouts. After Keon Broxton hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 3rd, The Count was staked to a 1-0 lead.

Things quickly unraveled in the fourth inning, however. Garza gave up a leadoff home run to Kevin Pillar and then served up another solo shot to Jose Bautista later, giving Toronto a 2-1 lead. The Blue Jays scored another run in the fifth thanks to a sac fly by Luke Maile after the Chris Coghlan (single) and Ryan Goins (double) lead off the inning with back-to-back hits. Garza came back out for the 6th and promptly served up a solo home run to Devon Travis. He then allowed singles to Bautista and Justin Smoak before getting a lineout from Russell Martin. That would be it for Matt, as he pulled in favor of Oliver Drake after throwing 78 pitches.

Drake didn’t help matter much, walking Chris Coghlan to load the bases before serving up a grand slam to make it an 8-1 affair. The Brewers battled back some in the bottom of the 6th, getting a walk from Jonathan Villar and a double from Hernan Perez before Domingo Santana lined a 3-run homer to make the score 8-4. That’s where the game would end however, as the Brewers would put only one batter on base during the final three innings against Toronto’s bullpen.

The two-game sweep against Toronto makes three losses in a row for the Brewers since Saturday’s rainless rainout in Chicago, and they have fallen to 25-21 on the season. It’s the first time since late-April that the team has lost three games in a row. They’ll still wake up in first place tomorrow, but it could be down to just a half-game depending on the outcomes of the Cubs (vs. San Francisco) and Cardinals (vs. Dodgers) games that will take place later on tonight.

The Arizona Diamondbacks come to town tomorrow to start a four-game series at Miller Park. Zach Davies (5-2, 5.44 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound for the Brewers and face off against lefty Robbie Ray (3-3, 3.91 ERA). Game time is 7:10 PM CST.