Pitching staff allows just one run, a Cal Raleigh solo home run
There will not be any free burgers in Milwaukee in the near future. Even though the Brewers’ pitching staff put together another excellent day, they were outdueled by a pitching staff led by Logan Gilbert. A lone home run from Cal Raleigh ended up being the difference as the Brewers lost 1-0, ending their 11-game winning streak.
The game started with both starters flexing their strikeout potential. The Brewers went down in order as Gilbert struck out Brice Turang, William Contreras, and Christian Yelich. Meanwhile, Jacob Misiorowski matched Gilbert with strikeouts of J.P. Crawford and Julio Rodríguez. The inning ended after a 10-pitch battle against Raleigh, who flew out to the center field warning track.
Gilbert kept rolling through the second. The Brewers at least put the ball in play this time but still went down in order. Meanwhile, Randy Arozarena collected the first hit with a double into the left-center gap on the first pitch he saw. However, Misiorowski recovered to strike out the side, all on swinging strike threes. He was a bit embarrassed when he started walking off the mound on a clear ball to Dominic Canzone but rebounded to strike him out on the next pitch.
The Brewers’ offense kept struggling through the third, going down in order for the third straight inning. In the bottom of the inning, Cole Young hit a sharp ground ball to Turang, who managed to get to it, but it deflected off the palm of his glove. However, Crawford hit into a double play to end the inning. After Misiorowski needed 39 pitches in his first two innings, he got a merciful eight-pitch third inning.
Even though the lineup came up for the second time in the fourth, the results were no different. Gilbert collected two more strikeouts as he kept the Brewers hitless through four innings. For the Mariners, Rodríguez singled on a ball that hit off Misiorowski’s back right pants pocket to start the inning. He rebounded with strikeouts of Raleigh and Arozarena, but walked Jorge Polanco.
Manager Pat Murphy chose to go to the bullpen there, ending Misiorowski’s day at 64 pitches. He only pitched 3 2⁄3 innings, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out seven. The broadcast noted that his velocity was down after the first inning, and he didn’t hit 100 miles per hour again. After the game, Murphy said that it was a planned short start for him to help manage his workload. DL Hall entered in relief and got Luke Raley to ground out to second to end the inning.
The short no-hitter watch came to an end in the fifth as Chourio collected the Brewers’ first hit with a leadoff single. He made it to second on a wild pitch, but that was as far as he got. Isaac Collins popped out, and Andrew Vaughn struck out. Anthony Seigler tried to bunt, but hit it too hard, and third baseman Ben Williamson had an easy play. Meanwhile, Hall kept the Mariners in check through the fifth, keeping the game scoreless.
The offense went quietly again in the sixth with Gilbert adding on another two strikeouts. Murphy stuck with Hall to start the sixth but swapped to Nick Mears after Crawford flew out. He started with a strikeout of Rodríguez. However, Raleigh struck with his 39th home run, giving the Mariners a 1-0 lead. Arozarena grounded out to end the inning.
After Contreras struck out to start the seventh inning, Yelich singled to left for the Brewers’ second baserunner. That ended Gilbert’s day at 6 1⁄3 innings. He only allowed two hits and struck out 10 Brewers. Matt Brash entered the game in relief. Chourio was up first against Brash and started with a sharp ground ball hit right back at Brash. It took a couple of seconds for Brash to find it and throw to first, but Raley couldn’t catch the throw and Chourio reached on an error.
With another scoring opportunity available, Collins grounded out to third. Williamson got Yelich at third, but another missed catch on the throw to Raley at first allowed Collins to reach. The runners would be stranded as Vaughn grounded out to end the inning.
Jared Koenig took the seventh inning for the Brewers. Mariners’ manager Dan Wilson tried to play the matchups by using Dylan Moore and Donovan Solano as pinch-hitters. However, Koenig wasn’t fazed and put together a 1-2-3 inning to keep the Mariners in check.
Eduardo Bazardo entered in relief for Brash in the eighth inning. He started with a groundout of Seigler and lineout of Durbin to start the inning. Murphy had Tyler Black pinch-hit for Ortiz, and he ended up drawing a walk. Wilson brought in Gabe Speier to face Turang, and it worked as Turang struck out to end the inning.
Murphy brought in Abner Uribe for the eighth, with Andruw Monasterio coming in to play shortstop. Williamson grounded out to Monasterio to start the inning before Young walked. He would be erased as quickly as Crawford grounded to Vaughn. He got the force out at first, then caught Young in a rundown before tagging him out.
Closer Andrés Muñoz came in for the save opportunity in the ninth. Contreras was the first to face him, and he drew a walk to open the inning. Murphy immediately went to Blake Perkins to pinch-run. Yelich was up next. He struck out swinging, but strike three ended up being a wild pitch, and Perkins took second with one out. Chourio had the first chance to bring him in, and he worked Muñoz to a full count before drawing a walk, putting the go-ahead run on base.
With one out, Collins was up at the plate. He took the first three pitches he saw, and despite all of them being outside the strike zone, two were called strikes. Collins worked the count to 2-2 before striking out looking on a ball that barely grazed the strike zone. Murphy was not pleased at all with some of those calls. Vaughn was the last chance, and he worked the count to 2-2 before grounding out to end the game.
It is the first time the Brewers have been shut out in a game since June 8 against the Padres, which was also a 1-0 loss decided on a solo home run. The offense was held to just two hits and a total of five baserunners. Yelich (28-game on-base streak) and Chourio (16-game hitting streak) each had hits to extend their streaks. Unfortunately, the offense couldn’t muster much more. They struck out a total of 13 times, with Turang taking an 0-for-4 day with four strikeouts. Despite the lack of baserunners, they had their chances to score. However, they went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position in the game.
The pitching staff did their job in this one. The Mariners didn’t fare much better with baserunners, managing only six in the game — four hits, two walks. The extra baserunner ended up being the difference, as that was the Raleigh home run that decided it.
The Brewers maintain the best record in baseball thanks to a loss by the Tigers earlier in the day. However, it’s now a tie for the best record after the Cubs defeated the Royals — and the Cubs hold the tiebreaker for now.
It’s back to work tomorrow to hopefully start up a new winning streak. They’ll go for the series win behind Quinn Priester, who will face Luis Castillo. First pitch is set for 2:40 p.m. CT, and it will be on FanDuel Sports Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.