The Brewers never really had it in any area of the game in this one, and it resulted in a 2-6 loss that never felt all that competitive outside of a brief moment in the third. Emergency starter Zack Godley provided a three-inning start filled with all sorts of chaos, former Brewer Jesus Aguilar sent a deciding three-run home run to left in the fourth, and the Crew never got enough going offensively to match the Marlins. It’s the third home series loss of the season, but the Brewers are still 14-10 and atop the NL Central. Let’s take a deeper look at how this game went.
GAME RECAP
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Early Innings
The first inning was slow in this one. Godley got off to a great start, getting the Marlins to go down in order in the top of the first on two flyouts and an inning-ending grounder to third. Alcantara had an equally great first, striking out two around a weak groundout from Daniel Vogelbach.
The Marlins made some early noise in the second with the first two batters reaching on a walk and a single. A grounder to second then resulted in a fielder’s choice, with the double play relay not being quick enough despite Kolten Wong’s innate smoothness. Things went south from there with a dribbler down the first base line scoring the run and not even resulting in an out after the first base ump made a questionable interference call on Godley. Both runners then advanced twice on two different passed balls, leading to a 2-0 lead for the Marlins. Luckily, Godley recorded his first two Ks amidst all the baserunning, and that kept the damage to two runs. The Brewers did not match that effort in their half of the inning, going down in order for the second time.
The trouble continued for Godley in the third. After an opening out, he walked two in a row to put two on for Corey Dickerson. He then proceeded to walk Dickerson too. Luckily, Godley was able to strike out the side around the walks, keeping it 0-2. Jackie Bradley Jr led off the Brewers’ half with a single, and, after a Luis Urias strikeout, he moved to second after a sac bunt from Godley. That brought Kolten Wong to the plate with a chance to drive one in, and he delivered with a long ball into the bleachers. Just like that, it was 2-2, and it stayed there after a Vogelbach strikeout ended the inning.
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Middle Innings
The top of the fourth was chaotic too. Godley walked the first hitter, moved him to second on a balk, hit the second hitter, and was then removed from the game with a finger issue related to his sac bunt. Eric Yardley came on after that, and he failed to get the three outs he needed. After getting to two outs with runners on the corners, Yardley allowed Aguilar to hit one out of the park to left, making it 5-2 Miami. The Brewers again failed to respond in the bottom of the fourth, going down in order for the third time.
Yardley came back out for the fifth and again failed to keep things scoreless. An opening single and stolen base led to a sixth Marlins run after a two-out single. The Brewers got a two-out single from Urias in their half of the inning, but that was the only action, leaving the game at 2-6.
Brad Boxberger took over for the Brewers in the sixth, and he did his job with a quick one-two-three inning. After an opening out from Kolten Wong, the Crew started to make some noise in their half with a double from Vogelbach and a single from Omar Narvaez. That brought Travis Shaw to the plate with two on and only one out, and disaster struck from there. Shaw lined one to left, and Lewis Brinson gunned down a tagging Vogelbach to end the inning. Vogelbach beat the throw, but his slide cost him a likely run.
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Late Innings
New Brewer Patrick Weigel (from the Arcia trade) came on for the seventh, and he worked through a scoreless inning despite loading the bases due to some trouble with walks. Alcantara came back out for his half of the seventh, and he put the Brewers down in order once again.
Weigel continue in the eight, producing a relatively calm scoreless inning. Urias then led off the bottom half with a single, providing some hope. He moved to third on consecutive groundouts, giving Vogelbach a RBI opportunity with two out. He didn’t take advantage, striking out looking.
Angel Perdomo pitched a scoreless ninth, setting up one last chance for the Brewers, who failed to take advantage. A Keston Hiura pinch hit double was the only noise made in a rather fitting end to this one.
SOME CONCLUSIONS
1. Don’t think too much about this one
The Brewers pitched an emergency starter and zero of their top three relievers. Six runs allowed isn’t all that bad in that scenario. It would have been nice to see some more production from the offense, but that obviously didn’t happen. It’s best to just move on from this one.
2. The umpires were rough…
This was not a great showing from the boys in black. The interference call on Godley was as big of a miss as you’ll ever see. As BA said when it happened, that’s a call you simply cannot make. Throw in a few other missed calls, and Pat Murphy was right to let his frustrations out. Unfortunately, that didn’t provide the spark it could have.
3. But the Marlins deserved to win this game
Miami put up a great pitching performance, got runners on base far more consistently than the Brewers, and ended up winning by four runs. This was a very good showing from them, and they fully deserved to walk away with the win. The Marlins look like a solid team.
4. We need Cain and Yeli back
The fill-ins have done an admirable job in their place, but, at some point, we need to get our best players on the field. News has been good with both of these guys, and it’s probably fair to expect them back soon. There’s just no question that they make this line-up more threatening.
5. Let’s get ready for the Dodgers
The Brewers are still in a great place, and now they have a chance to make a big statement when the Dodgers come to town. A series win over LA would wash away any bitter taste left from this one.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The Brewers have two four-game series coming up, the first at home against the Dodgers and the second in Philadelphia. They then travel to Miami for a three-game rematch with the Marlins before they finally get their next day off on May 10.
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