Brewers blow four-run lead, lose 7-5 to Mets

Box Score

The Brewers had an opportunity to gain a game on the Phillies in the Wild Card race, but a bullpen implosion evaporated a 4-0 lead and resulted in a 7-5 loss.

Aaron Ashby made the abbreviated start in his return from the injured list. He threw two scoreless innings, allowing one hit while striking out two and walking two. The southpaw labored in a 30-pitch first inning, but he followed it up with a perfect second.

The Brewers' offense staked the bullpen to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Kolten Wong and Andrew McCutchen led off with back-to-back doubles, and Omar Narvaez and Willy Adames added RBI singles.

The bullpen game got off to a strong start, as Peter Strzelecki and Hoby Milner combined to record six consecutive outs. Meanwhile, the Brewers tacked on another run via a base hit by Wong in the bottom of the fifth.

Things started to go downhill in the sixth. With one out, Brad Boxberger hit Mark Canha with a pitch and allowed a single to Francisco Lindor. Pete Alonso then blasted a three-run homer to make it 4-3.

It got worse in the seventh. Taylor Rogers entered to face the bottom of the order, but he walked the first three hitters he faced to load the bases. Rogers struck out Canha to get one out away from escaping the jam, but Lindor blasted a go-ahead grand slam to give the Mets a 7-4 lead.

The Brewers scratched across another run with two outs in the eighth against Adam Ottavino, prompting Buck Showalter to turn to Edwin Diaz for a four-out save in a 7-5 game.

Diaz struck out Rowdy Tellez to end the inning, then struck out two more in the ninth to earn the save.

Because the Phillies also lost, the Brewers did not lose ground in the Wild Card standings. They still have to make up 3.5 games to get into the postseason. While that is an attainable goal, the clock is ticking.

Milwaukee will look to avoid a sweep tomorrow afternoon. Adrian Houser gets the ball opposite Taijuan Walker. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. CDT.