Brewers blow chance to get into Wild Card spot, lose to Marlins 4-2

Box Score

The Brewers had a golden opportunity to get back into a playoff spot on Friday night. Earlier in the day, the Phillies lost to the Cubs, putting the Brewers and Phillies into a tie in the standings. A win would put the Brewers ahead for the day (though the Phillies would still control their destiny due to tiebreakers). However, they couldn’t follow through, and a late home run cost the Brewers a chance to move ahead.

Early on, the Brewers were in great shape. Eric Lauer struck out six of the first eight batters he faced. Meanwhile, the Brewers offense scored two runs in the second. Mike Brosseau drove a run in with a single that Avisail Garcia threw to no one in the infield, which allowed Christian Yelich to score. Brosseau reached second on the play and then scored when Keston Hiura drove him in with a double.

Lauer was on point in his start, getting through five innings with nine strikeouts. The only two baserunners were allowed on a hit and catcher interference. However, with just 71 pitches thrown, manager Craig Counsell pulled Lauer for the sixth inning and went to Peter Strzelecki. It worked in the sixth as Strzelecki pitched a scoreless inning, working around a hit and walk with two strikeouts.

Meanwhile, the Brewers had opportunities to tack on runs but couldn’t take advantage. Back-to-back doubles in the sixth should have brought in another run, but Keston Hiura couldn’t score on the latter of the two and was held at third. The bases would end up loaded, but Victor Caratini grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Freddy Peralta came in the game in relief in the seventh and got through with a 1-2-3 inning. He came back out for the eighth, though struggled in the inning. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs. Former Brewer Avisail Garcia came up to the plate, and hit a grand slam just over the center field fence to put the Marlins ahead 4-2. The Brewers couldn’t put together another scoring chance, and they lost 4-2.

Overall, the Brewers had a balanced day on offense. Eight of the nine starters recorded a hit and the Brewers outhit the Marlins 9-5. In addition, the Brewers pitching staff struck out 14 of the Marlins batters. However, the team went 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base.

The series against the Marlins continues tomorrow, and the Brewers will enter the game knowing they are either tied for a Wild Card spot or 1 game behind. The Phillies and Nationalss play at 12:05 PM in the first game of a doubleheader. The second game is at 6:05 PM, while the Brewers play at 7:10 PM. It’s a matchup of aces again as Corbin Burnes faces Sandy Alcantara.