Brewers offense can’t overcome a bad day by the pitching staff, fall to D-backs 10-7

Box Score

Yesterday, the Brewers got a complete team game as they got a good win against the Dimaondbacks. Tonight, while the offense still showed up, the rest of the team didn’t.

The Brewers got on the board early. Three straight hits to start the second (single by Braun, double by Thames, single by Hiura) gave the Brewers a 2-0 lead. The Diamondbacks responded quick, getting a double from Adam Jones and a sac fly by Nick Ahmed to cut it to 2-1. The Brewers got that run back quick, getting a solo home run from Lorenzo Cain to make it a 3-1 lead.

After that, the Diamondbacks took order in the bottom of the third inning. After getting Taylor Clarke to strike out to start the inning, the Diamondbacks went for the team cycle. Their next four at-bats: single by Jarrod Dyson, double by Ketel Marte, triple by Eduardo Escobar, and home run by Christian Walker. That scored four runs for the Diamondbacks and it was a 5-3 deficit for the Brewers. After a single by Adam Jones and a walk by Jake Lamb, that ended Jhoulys Chacin’s day.

Junior Guerra came on and inherited Chacin’s two runners. Ahmed reached base on an error by Hiura to load the bases, and then a wild pitch by Guerra allowed Jones to score and increase the deficit to 6-3. After an intentional walk to Alex Avlia, Clarke grounded out to score another run and the score was now 7-3. Jhoulys Chacin had a pretty bad day, allowing seven runs (six earned) on seven hits and a walk, with just two strikeouts. Guerra also finished his day after that inning. He only allowed the intentional walk and didn’t get charged with a run, but both of his inherited runners scored.

The teams traded runs in the fourth. Hiura doubled, advanced to third on an Arcia groundout, then scored on a Ben Gamel groundout. The Brewers gave that run right back in the fourth, as Jay Jackson allowed a home run to Escobar and the score was now 8-4. The Diamondbacks added on more from there, getting runs on a Dyson single and Marte force out with the bases loaded to make it a 10-4 game. Jackson also struggled on the day, pitching two innings and allowing three runs on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

Scoring quieted down on the Diamondbacks side after that, with Burch Smith coming in and taking the sixth and seventh. He limited the Diamonbacks to just two walks while striking out three. That helped the Brewers put together a rally in the seventh inning. Tyler Saladino singled to lead off the inning, then Christian Yelich hit his 35th home run of the season and the deficit was cut to 10-6. Back-to-back doubles by Yasmani Grandal and Mike Moustakas added on another, cutting the deficit to 10-7.

The Brewers couldn’t tag on more in the eighth as they went down in order against Tim Locastro. Matt Albers got through the eighth, allowing a walk but getting a 1-2-3 inning thanks to a double play. The Brewers headed to the ninth, having to face Diamondbacks closer Greg Holland down three. They couldn’t manage anything, as Cain, Yelich, and Grandal went down in order to end the game.

On offense, Christian Yelich did all he could, going 2-for-3 with two walks and 2 RBI. Yasmani Grandal, Ryan Braun, and Keston Hiura also added on two-hit days. The top seven in the order each recorded at least one hit tonight, and the team out-hit the Diamondbacks 12 to 10. However, it wasn’t enough to offset the rough day by the pitching staff.

With the series tied at 1-1, the Brewers will try to get back to winning and let this just be a bump in the road. Gio Gonzalez will return from the DL to face old friend Zack Greinke. First pitch is at 7:10 pm.