Wade Miley pitched only three innings after taking a ball off his knee in the first inning
For the first time this season, the Brewers have lost a series. The Padres put up a four-run first inning and never fell behind, while Wade Miley had a short start after taking a ball off his knee. The Brewers ended up taking a 6-3 loss for their third loss in a row.
The first inning was one to forget. The Padres led off with back-to-back singles, then loaded the bases after Jake Bauers missed the catch on a sacrifice bunt. Manny Machado brought in the first run, which came on a ball hit right back at Wade Miley. The Brewers recorded the out easily, but Miley went down on the play. He did stay in the game after that. However, the next batter he faced, Ha-Seong Kim, hit a three-run home run to give the Padres a 4-0 lead. The Padres continued to put baserunners on as a throwing error by Joey Ortiz allowed Luis Campusano to reach, and a balk moved him up. Eguy Rosario had the Padres fourth hit of the inning, but Jose Azocar struck out to end the inning. All nine Padres batters got a plate appearance before their starter, Dylan Cease, threw a pitch.
The Brewers did get a run back in the bottom of the first. Willy Adames drew a two-out walk, and Jake Bauers hit a double to bring in Adames. The deficit was down to 4-1, and that’s where it would stay for several innings.
Miley pitched two more innings after that, but he was pulled after that with just 66 pitches thrown. All of the damage came in that first inning, where he allowed four runs (three earned). He also walked two and struck out two. He was taken for X-rays after he left the game, and despite taking a ball directly off the kneecap, they came back negative. We’ll have to wait and see if this will impact his next start or not.
The game turned into a bullpen game from there. Abner Uribe was called on first and gave the Brewers 1 2⁄3 scoreless, though he did allow three hits and a walk. Hoby Milner took the rest of the fifth and all of the sixth, striking out three in his 1 1⁄3 inning of work.
Elvis Peguero came in for the seventh, but only managed to record one out. He allowed three hits and a walk to the five batters he faced, leading a run. Jared Koenig came in to finish up the inning, and while he did allow an inherited runner to score on a groundout (charged to Peguero), he did record outs to both of the batters he faced. Koenig returned for the eighth to pitch a 1-2-3 frame.
The Brewers had one of their best chances to close the gap in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, three straight singles from Joey Wiemer, Sal Frelick, and William Contreras gave the Brewers their second run of the day. Adames walked to load the bases, bringing up Gary Sanchez as the tying run. Unfortunately, he struck out on three pitches to end the threat.
After Joel Payamps pitched a clean ninth, the Brewers had one more chance in the bottom of the inning. A Wiemer walk and Frelick single put two runners on base with one out, and Contreras brought in Wiemer on an RBI groundout. That was as close as the Brewers would get though, as Adames flew out to end the game.
Frelick led the offense from the leadoff spot tonight, going 3-for-4 with a walk. He also got his first regular-season action at third base, switching to third in the eighth. Contreras went 1-for-5 and had two RBI in the game. Unfortunately, the defense had their share of struggles tonight, committing three errors.
The Brewers will need a win to avoid being swept for the first time this season as they finish their series against the Padres tomorrow afternoon. The Brewers have not named their starter for tomorrow, though it would be Freddy Peralta’s day on normal rest. However, manager Pat Murphy wants to give Peralta extra rest regularly throughout the season, as that has been the Brewers philosophy in recent years. On the other side, Michael King will get the start for the Padres. First pitch will be at 12:10 p.m.