Brewers slide to series win over Marlins, 4-2

Box Score

The Brewers had a chance to extend their NL Central lead with the Cubs taking the day off. They took full advantage behind Tyrone Taylor, whose double and excellent slide put the Brewers ahead in a 4-2 win.

Adrian Houser returned from the injured list to make the start today. He started out behind as the Marlins manufactured a run in the first. Luis Arraez doubled, Jake Burger singled, and Jesus Sanchez hit a sacrifice fly to give the Marlins an early 1-0 lead.

From there, both starters kept the offenses in check until the fourth inning. The Brewers got on the board there with their own manufactured run. William Contreras doubled, moved to third on a fly out, and then came home on a Rowdy Tellez sacrifice fly.

The Marlins countered in the fifth with two singles and a productive groundout, putting them back in front 2-1. The Brewers came right back in the bottom of the inning. Andruw Monasterio singled, moved up to second on a sac bunt and took third on a wild pitch. Taylor brought him in on a double, tying the game at 2-2.

The Brewers weren’t done there. Two batters later, Sal Frelick hit a single to right field and Taylor was sent home. It was a close play at the plate and Taylor slid in, getting his hand on the plate. Taylor was initially called out but the Brewers challenged, and review showed that catcher Jacob Stallings never tagged Taylor. The call was overturned and the Brewers had a 3-2 lead.

Houser was solid in his first start back from the injured list. He pitched five innings and threw 82 pitches, allowing two runs and five hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out five. Meanwhile the Brewers offense got to Eury Pérez, who allowed three runs on seven hits in 4 ²⁄₃ innings.

In the seventh, the Brewers added some insurance. Brice Turang hit an infield single and stole second. From there, Taylor hit his second double to increase the lead to 4-2. Unfortunately, he was stranded there as three straight line drives were hit right at defenders.

The Brewers bullpen was strong as usual today. Elvis Peguero pitched a scoreless sixth with two strikeouts. Abner Uribe worked around a walk for a scoreless seventh. Joel Payamps struck out one and allowed a two-out single but nothing else in a scoreless eighth. Devin Williams finished it off by retiring the Marlins in order in the ninth.

Taylor led the offense with a 2-for-3 day. He hit two doubles, drove in two runs, and scored the go-ahead run with his fifth inning slide. Five other starters also recorded a hit.

The Brewers magic number for the division is down to 12, while their number for a playoff spot is at 10 (they do not hold the tiebreaker over the Diamondbacks or Giants). Next up in town are the Nationals, who played a game against the Pirates in under two hours today. Game one will feature Wade Miley and Jake Irvin. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m.