Brewers unable to complete sweep as Arizona wins series finale, 5-2

The Milwaukee Brewers entered action today 3.5 games out of first place in the NL Central and 2 games out of the Wild Card. A win today would at the least keep the Brew Crew on pace with the Cardinals, Cubs, Nationals, Phillies, and Mets. A win today would also complete the sweep of Arizona as Milwaukee pitchers had held the Diamondbacks’ offense to just one run over the first two games of the three game series. The D-Backs would not be held down in this one, however, as Brewers’ starter Zach Davies did not have his best stuff, and the defense left something to be desired.

Ketel Marte began the game by legging out an infield single. His spot on the base paths was eliminated as Tim Locastro grounded to Mike Moustakas who got the force at second. Unfortunately the Brewers were unable to complete the double play as Keston Hiura was high with his throw.

Not completing the double play had consequences. Locastro stole second base to get into scoring position. He would advance to third as Eduardo Escobar flew to Lorenzo Cain in center field. With two outs in the inning and getting behind in the count 3-0, Zach Davies left a “batting practice” fastball over the middle of the plate that Christian Walker crushed into the left field seats. Arizona had the early lead 2-0.

After getting through the second and third innings with relative ease, Davies struggled through the fourth. Those struggles first came in the form of Eduardo Escobar who hit a no-doubt home run to centerfield. Taking the count to 3-2, Christian Walker followed with a double down the left field line. Davies next walked Jake Lamb. Lamb would be out on the force as Josh Rojas grounded to Brewers’ first baseman, Yasmani Grandal. Grandal was high on this throw to second ensuring that the double play, once again, was not turned.

Once again, failing to turn the double play would have consequences. Christian Walker was on third base with one out and not two. Nick Ahmed was next up, and he grounded to Grandal who elected to throw home as opposed to take the force at first. Manny Pina was unable to get the tag on Walker on time, and the Diamondbacks had a 4-0 lead.

Craig Counsell would not let Davies come out for the fifth inning as he was replaced by Devin Williams. Ketel Marte led off with a double into the left center field gap. Tim Locastro got an infield single off a ground ball to Keston Hiura. Hiura throw attempt to first bounced in the dirt and away from Grandal. Marte scored on the error.

Arizona’s starter, Robbie Ray, was not great in this one as he walked four. He was effective however as he kept the Brewers off the scoreboard. Milwaukee would not get on the board until the seventh inning.

In the seventh, Manny Pina launched his eighth home run of the season into the left field seats to get the scoring started for the Brew Crew.

The Brewers would tack on one more in the eighth. Keston Hiura doubled on a sharp line drive to center field. Christian Yelich followed with a single that sent Hiura to third. Hiura scored the Brewers’ second run as he tagged on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Braun. That would be as close as the Brewers would get.

The Brewers threatened a few times in this one. Unfortunately they left nine runners on base. They also went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position. This has certainly been the frustrating theme of the Brewers’ season.

The ninth inning was one of those frustrating, yet exciting innings that went for naught. Cory Spangenberg doubled, and Keston Hiura worked a nine-pitch walk to bring the tying run to the plate in the form of Christian Yelich. After getting behind in the count 0-2, Yelich worked Archie Bradley to a 3-2 count. After a battle between the two, Christian Yelich hit the ball on the screws. Unfortunately it was right at the Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte, who completed the force at first to end the game.

The Brewers welcome the St. Louis Cardinals to Miller Park on Monday for the first of three games that are about as big as they get at this time of year. The Brewers are scheduled to send Gio Gonzalez to the mound to open the series. The Cardinals will send out Adam Wainwright. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 CT. The game can be heard on WTMJ and seen on Fox Sports Wisconsin.