A night after the Brewers’ bats smashed four home runs in route to a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins, the pitching and offense struggled to keep the Brewers in the game. Eric Lauer started for the Brewers and could not complete four innings after giving up seven runs.
Lauer finished the night with three and two-thirds innings pitched, giving up seven runs on nine hits. He also had two walks and two strike outs.
The Twins took advantage of the glaring setting sun by hitting opposite field drives to left that Christian Yelich could not see. Justin Grimm relieved Lauer in the fourth and got the final out of the inning. He did not start out the fifth well, however, and gave up a one-out solo home run to Byron Buxton. He responded by allowing back-to-back singles and a walk, loading the bases. Nelson Cruz, the former Brewer, drew another Grimm walk and made the score 9-0. A third straight walk to Eddie Rosario made the score 10-0. After falling behind 2-1 to Marwin Gonzalez, Grimm was pulled from the game with an apparent injury.
Eric Yardley came in with the bases loaded and an inherited 2-1 count. Gonzalez hit a sacrifice fly to make the score 11-0. However, he was able to get out of the inning without any further damage. The following inning, though, he gave up a solo home run to Buxton, his second of the game.
Luis Urias hit a two-run single in the home half of the sixth, making the score 12-2, which would the final.
Who’s [In Center]?
Urias came into the game in an interesting defensive substitution scheme by Craig Counsell. Urias, who did not start, replaced Christian Yelich in the lineup. Brock Holt, who started at third base, moved to left. Orlando Arcia entered the game for Avisail Garcia and played center field. Eric Sogard shifted from shortstop to third base so Urias could play short.
In a further odd move, Jedd Gyorko pitched the ninth inning for the Brewers. He allowed just one hit in an otherwise perfect inning in which he threw 11 pitches. Corey Knebel and Brent Suter also pitched scoreless innings of relief for the Brewers.
Struggles for Lauer
Eric Lauer has not performed well in his two starts for the Brewers. He has yet to even make it passed four innings and has an ERA of 12.75. He is 0-2 in three appearances, two starts.
Up Next
The Brewers will play four games in Chicago against the Cubs.
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