Brewers rally late but Reds take lead in ninth, Brewers lose 4-3

Box Score

It wasn’t a pretty game in Milwaukee tonight, and unfortunately, the Brewers came out on the wrong side of it.

The game started off well enough. Luis Urias led off the game by getting hit by a pitch. After Christian Yelich and Willy Adames flew out, newly chosen All-Star catcher Omar Narvaez singled to third to put runners at the corners. Avisail Garcia then hit a single that barely reached right field, bringing in Urias and staking the Brewers to a 1-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Freddy Peralta also got off to a good start. He kept the Reds in check through five innings, not allowing more than one baserunner in each of the first five innings. Unfortunately it unraveled in the sixth. Peralta led off the inning by barely hitting Jonathan India with a pitch, then a single to Jesse Winker put two runners on base. Nick Castellanos then brought them in with a home run, and the Reds had a 3-1 lead. The Brewers made the pitching change at that point, but in the process, manager Craig Counsell was ejected from the game by home plate umpire Gabe Morales. It wasn’t immediately clear why, but the thought is he was arguing balls and strikes.

Brent Suter came into the game after that, and he got out of the inning with two strikeouts to keep the Reds at bay. Meanwhile, the Brewers started out well enough in the sixth inning. Christian Yelich laid down a bunt that was a single after a wild throw, but then with Christian Yelich standing just past first base (remember, you can overrun first base as long as you don’t make a baseball move towards second), Jonathan India tagged Yelich and first base umpire John Libka called Yelich out. Yelich was livid and argued, and Libka ejected Yelich. On the replay, it looked like Yelich might have made a tiny move towards second, but it was in no way conclusive. After the game, Counsell spoke his mind on that call.

That hurt more as the inning went on. Omar Narvaez drew a walk with two outs, then Garcia doubled to left and Narvaez tried to score, but was caught at home plate. Had Yelich been on base as well, that would have been a run for the Brewers. Instead, the Brewers were still down 3-1 after six innings.

Suter continued to keep the Reds in check, allowing a single but Narvaez caught Aristides Aquino stealing second to erase the base runner. Brad Boxberger pitched the eighth and allowed a single and a walk, but nothing else. Meanwhile, Joey Votto joined the ejection party as he got ejected for arguing balls and strikes after a strikeout by third base umpire Doug Eddings.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Brewers finally broke through. With one out, Luis Urias drew a walk, and then Tyrone Taylor (in the game to replace Yelich) got his first plate appearance of the day. He made it count, hitting a two-run home run to left center and tied the game at 3-3. The Brewers had another chance to score as Narvaez doubled and Garcia was intentionally walked, but Jace Peterson struck out to end the inning.

With the game tied at 3-3, Josh Hader came in to keep it tied going into the ninth. Unfortunately, he couldn’t as Eugenio Suarez led off the inning with a solo home run to put the Reds up 4-3. Hader got through the next three batters without issue, but the Brewers were behind. In the bottom of the ninth, Pablo Reyes drew a two out walk to put the tying run on base, but Luis Urias flew out on a ball to deep left to end the game.

On offense, Yelich, Narvaez, and Garcia each had two-hit games to lead the offense. Tyrone Taylor added a home run to account for all of the hits in the game. Meanwhile, Peralta had a rough day, pitching 5+ innings and allowing three runs on two hits and two walks with six strikeouts. However, the Brewers frustrations came out after the game, with several players/coaches talking about the calls in this series.

The series in Milwaukee will finish tomorrow as the Brewers try to salvage a split. Brandon Woodruff faces Luis Castillo in the final game of the first half of the season. First pitch is at 1:10 pm on Bally Sports Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.