After a couple of dominant days on offense for the Brewers, the streak cooled down early today. However, it ran just long enough to build a lead, which Kyle Harrison protected in a 4-1 win this afternoon.
Most of the Brewers’ offense came with two outs in the first inning. William Contreras started off with a two-out single. Then, back-to-back walks of Gary Sánchez and Jake Bauers loaded the bases. That left it to Luis Rengifo to bring in a run, and he hit what should have been an easy ground ball straight at Brady House. However, House did not field the ball cleanly as it bounced off his glove, and by the time he recovered, there was no play. Contreras scored on the error, and the Brewers had a 1-0 lead.
That gave Brandon Lockridge an at-bat with the bases loaded. He cashed it in, hitting a ground ball between second and third for an RBI single, scoring both Sánchez and Bauers. Just like that, the Brewers were staked to a 3-0 lead before Harrison even took the mound (with all three runs unearned).
Harrison took that early lead and defended it. His day started with a ground ball hit in front of the plate that Sánchez threw to first and was initially ruled out. However, the Nationals challenged, and James Wood just beat the throw. Wood was eliminated on a double play from House two batters later, and Harrison was out of the first, facing the minimum.
That first at-bat from Wood also had a ball that Sánchez challenged and was upheld, just one-tenth of an inch out of the strike zone. That ended up looming large after Garrett Mitchell challenged a strikeout in the top of the second, and that was also upheld (this one much more obvious). That used up both of the Brewers’ ABS challenges, not even an inning and a half into the game. It’s not the first game that the Brewers have burned their challenges in non-critical situations, and it’s something that they will need to work on going forward.
Both starters settled in well after the first, with the next scoring chance not happening until the bottom of the fourth inning. Curtis Mead led off the inning with a double, then CJ Abrams drove in Mead with an RBI single. Harrison did strike out the side in the inning, but the Nationals closed the lead to 3-1.
That was Harrison’s only rough inning of the day. Overall, he had a good day, scattering seven hits and a walk over six innings with five strikeouts. The length of the start was important, giving the bullpen some rest after a short start from Brandon Woodruff on Thursday and Jacob Misiorowski’s early departure on Friday. For the Nationals, Foster Griffin matched Harrison pretty well. He allowed three hits and four walks over six innings. Though the Brewers scored three runs off him, all were recorded as unearned after House’s error.
The Nationals went to Brad Lord in the seventh, and the Brewers put some two-out pressure on him. Brice Turang singled and then reached second on a wild pitch. The Nationals chose to walk Contreras intentionally after that, and then escaped the inning after Sánchez grounded out. Meanwhile, Grant Anderson and DL Hall combined for a scoreless seventh inning, with Anderson allowing just one hit.
Lord remained in the game for the eighth, and the Brewers kept up the pressure with small ball. Three straight one-out singles from Rengifo, Lockridge, and Sal Frelick loaded the bases. Once again, Joey Ortiz got an at-bat with the bases loaded, but he did make it count. He hit a ground ball in front of home plate that bounced high, and Mead’s only choice was to throw to first. He did get the out, but David Hamilton (who pinch-ran for Rengifo) scored an important insurance run. Mitchell drew a walk to load the bases again, but Turang struck out swinging.
Trevor Megill pitched a 1-2-3 eighth to hold the three-run lead, then the Brewers went down in order against Orlando Ribalta in the top of the ninth. Abner Uribe came in for the save chance, and it was another tense one. Jacob Young led off the inning with a single, and Daylen Lile reached on an error by Hamilton, who dropped a pop-up in shallow left. Pitching coach Chris Hook made a mound visit after that, but also brought a different glove for Uribe. After the game, Todd Rosiak noted that it was because Uribe was using a new glove that doesn’t close as tightly, so he switched back to his old glove to not tip pitches.
Whether the change of glove helped or not, Uribe did recover after that. He struck out José Tena for the first out. Luis García Jr. popped out on the infield fly rule after that, and then Jorbit Vivas grounded out to Bauers at first to end the game.
While the Nationals outhit the Brewers 9-7 in this game, the Brewers made up for it with six walks compared to the Nationals’ one. All of those walks came from the first five batters in the order. Lockridge was the lone Brewer with a multi-hit day, going 2-for-4 at the plate. Turang reached the most with a 1-for-3 day with a pair of walks. Mitchell and Contreras also had a hit and a walk each. Every starter reached base at least once except for Ortiz, who still contributed with an RBI groundout.
One unfortunate update tonight came not from this game, but from the Triple-A Nashville game this afternoon. During his rehab appearance, Jackson Chourio fouled a ball off his foot in the third inning. He was limping badly after the at-bat and did not return to play defense after the inning. The initial report from the Brewers is that it was a precautionary move, but we will have to wait for more details. Prior to the injury, Chourio was expected to return to the team on Monday — along with Andrew Vaughn — for the beginning of Milwaukee’s series in St. Louis. We’ll see if that still ends up being the case.
The Brewers will go for the series sweep tomorrow afternoon. Chad Patrick was originally scheduled to start for the Brewers, but he is no longer listed, and the spot is now TBD. This could mean that Logan Henderson — who is with the team currently — could be officially recalled to make the start. It could also be a sign of the Brewers using an opener in front of Patrick again. No official report was available after the game. As for the Nationals, they will start Zack Littell. First pitch will be at 12:35 p.m.