Brewers bats back on track with resounding 9-5 win over the Guardians

Rhys Hoskins has probably his best game as a Brewer as the Crew avoid the sweep

It’s been a rough week, but today’s win was certainly a step or two in the right direction.

After three-up, three-down innings for both teams in the first, the Crew got on the board in the top of the second. William Contreras singled on a sharp line drive to center fielder Nolan Jones to lead off the frame. Brice Turang struck out swinging, but Rhys Hoskins worked a walk against Guardians starter Gavin Williams.

That brought up the suddenly red-hot Jake Bauers, who hit what initially appeared to be a routine pop-up to centerfielder Nolan Jones. The ball just kept carrying, and ended up bouncing off the wall despite Jones’ best effort to make a highlight reel catch. Just like that, the score was 1-0 with runners on second and third and only one man out.

Williams struck out Andruw Monasterio for the second out, but Caleb Durbin hit a hard liner to deep right field. Unfortunately, Cleveland’s Jhonkensy Noel ran it down on the warning track.

Even more unfortunate was that the very next at-bat for Cleveland, in the top of the second. Brewers starter Logan Henderson left a 91-mph fastball up in the zone, which Kyle Manzardo promptly crushed to center field. After that, Henderson got out of the inning in relatively clean fashion, allowing just a single to Jones.

Both teams went three up, three down in the bottom of the third. In the fourth, Rhys Hoskins cranked a double off Williams, but Bauers struck out to strand him.

Henderson allowed a walk to Jose Ramirez and struck out Manzardo to start the bottom of the fourth. Gabriel Arias hit a single up the middle, and the speedy Ramirez rounded second, headed for third.

Monasterio, with a great display of baseball IQ at shortstop, cut off Jackson Chourio’s throw and threw Arias out trying to take second for the second out. Nolan Jones followed with another single — this one a blooper that dropped perfectly in between Monasterio, Bauers, and Chourio. Henderson then struck out Noel for the third out, but the Guardians had the lead, 2-1.

Cleveland’s lead wouldn’t last long. In the top of the fifth, Sal Frelick hit a two-out home run, his second on the season, to tie it up 2-2. Love to see it from Frelick, who, despite having bulked up, is still definitely not a power hitter. Henderson retired the side in the bottom of the frame to keep the score tied.

Williams was pulled in favor of Tim Herrin to start the sixth, who struck out Christian Yelich for the first out. He wouldn’t get another out. After a William Contreras double and a Turang walk, Herrin was pulled in favor of Jakob Junis. The Brewers loaded the bases in the first game of the series, but were unable to deliver in the clutch. This time would be different.

Hoskins then singled, scoring Contreras and advancing Turang to third. Next up was Bauers, who also singled on a sharp line drive, scoring Turang and moving Hoskins to third.

Still with only one out in the frame, Isaac Collins — pinch-hitting for Monasterio — laid down a bunt single. Hoskins, who isn’t exactly an Olympic sprinter, stayed at third. That brought up a bases-loaded opportunity for Caleb Durbin. Junis hit Durbin, scoring Hoskins and keeping the bases full. The Brewers looked as if they were on the precipice of making it a blowout, but Frelick struck out and Chourio popped out to second baseman Angel Martinez to end the inning.

Nick Mears and Grant Anderson shut the Guardians down in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively. Hoskins, who finished the game a triple short of the cycle, added a couple of insurance runs in the top of the seventh with a home run initially ruled a ground-rule double.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Guardians mounted a little rally of their own. Anderson came back out for his second inning, but was pulled for Jared Koenig after allowing a one-out single to Austin Hedges. Koenig got Steven Kwan to fly out for the second out, but wouldn’t get another out. After a Daniel Schneemann single (advancing Hedges to second), Ramirez hit a three-run shot to bring the game within two runs.

Koenig, after a mound visit, walked Carlos Santana. Manager Pat Murphy had had enough at that point and pulled Koenig for Abner Uribe, who got Arias to pop up to Joey Ortiz (in after the Collins pinch-hit appearance) to end the inning.

The Brewers added a couple more insurance runs courtesy of yet another Hoskins’ RBI knock (another single), bringing the game to its final score of 9-5.

The player of the game was the red-hot Rhys Hoskins, who went 4-for-4 with five (!!) RBIs and a walk. He was the difference today. Hoskins was perfect with runners in scoring position (and in general) and had three different RBI hits. Contreras also had his first three-hit game of the season.

Logan Henderson pitched really well, again. Welcome to Milwaukee, Logan! His stats through two career starts:

Overall, a pretty encouraging outing from the Crew — especially the offense. After a few anemic performances, the Brewers seem to have found their mojo again. Hopefully, it’ll carry over into the Brewers’ next series against the red-hot Minnesota Twins, winners of 10 straight.

Milwaukee gets the day off tomorrow, but they’ll be back at it again on Friday for the first game of a six-game homestand against the Twins and the Baltimore Orioles. The Crew is basically an AL team for the month — their last NL game was against the Cubs back on May 4, and their next will be against the Pirates on May 22.

First pitch for Friday’s game is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. The game will be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.