Bullpen falters as Brewers can’t complete sweep, lose to Orioles 6-3

Box Score

The Brewers dropped the series finale to the Baltimore Orioles 6-3, falling just a few scoreless innings short of a sweep at American Family Field on Thursday afternoon.

Colin Rea got the start for Milwaukee and did his job, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out eight batters across five scoreless innings.

Rea also got some run support from the Crew early against Kyle Bradish, as a walk by Christian Yelich followed by singles from Willy Adames, William Contreras, Owen Miller, and Jon Singleton gave the Brewers a quick 3-0 lead.

That was pretty much all the offense Milwaukee could muster, however, as they totaled just four hits and no walks the rest of the way and Bradish managed to strike out 10 batters.

After Rea exited in the sixth, Elvis Peguero pitched a scoreless inning before Joel Payamps allowed a two-out homer to Ramon Urias to cut the lead to 3-1.

Peter Strzelecki got the eighth inning and had another rough outing, giving up a single to Adley Rutschman, an RBI double to Anthony Santander, and a go-ahead, two-run homer to Gunnar Henderson to make it 4-3 Baltimore.

After another 1-2-3 inning for Milwaukee in the bottom of the eighth, the Orioles tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth, as Aaron Hicks walked, Urias singled, and Adam Frazier doubled them both home to extend the lead to 6-3 entering the bottom of the ninth.

Hard-throwing closer Felix Bautista avoided any damage, allowing just a single to Brian Anderson as he got his 16th save of the season.

The Brewers return to action this weekend as the team begins a three-game set with the Oakland Athletics at American Family Field before an off day on Monday. Friday night’s game features Adrian Houser taking on Luis Medina. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. on Bally Sports Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.