Brewers and Braves Battle To A Split Series

I think that what must have really broken me into the league, after a 24-game honeymoon phase, was this series, Brewers-Braves in Steve's basement. My body went through the sort of emotional cycle one would attribute to someone experiencing loss of some sort. After I was done I felt like I'd been riding a horse through hell for three hours, which I hadn't experienced since I popped on that Sturgill Simpson album, the one he recorded after getting strung out on morphine for weeks on end. 

[Good album, by the way. 'Sound and Fury'. It sounds like if the Black Keys had some peyote.]

Not that this went particularly badly for either Jordan or I. It was a really fun series, laughs were had, and the ultimate outcome of a split indicates that both of our teams showed up and matched each other. But those who were there know of how ridiculous this series was. Two 12+ inning games, a game where I could have won if I'd gotten any diamond rolls at all, a complete shellacking and a really bizarre shutout. It was wild, every second of it. 

Here now the details,

Game 1: Brewers 5, Braves 3 (F/12)

W: Bryan Hudson

L: Ryan Yarbrough

SV: Michael Kopech

The first stalemate. Musgrove was tough, as I expected him to be, and notched 6 Ks.  Falter was human, as he tends to be, and small-balled a run in thanks to a Teoscar Hernandez triple. Then in the fifth, Nick Fortes, the last person I expected to crack a homer, blew a 2-run shot out of Truist Park and gave me a narrow lead, spoiled almost immediately by Ryan Fernandez giving up a solo homer to Pete Alonso. The score was tied 2-2, as it would stay...for six more f&$@%& innings. Many close calls, many runners stranded in scoring position. Lots and lots of relief innings. Finally, inning 12, the Brewers' lineup finally woke up, against longman Yarbrough. Michael Conforto, in my doghouse for repeated missed opportunities, smoked a double, then Connor Norby, excellent off the bench this game, homered him home, and then Blake Perkins added one more homer for insurance. The game was almost spoiled thanks to Geraldo Perdomo's third double of the game, which he'd propel to a run on a Jose Altuve RBI single, but Michael Kopech, with men on second and third, K'd Oneil Cruz to end it. A real pulse-pounder of a game. Comparatively this was the tamer one though.

Game 2: Braves 6, Brewers 5 (F/13)

W: Ryan Yarbrough

L: Ryan Fernandez

This game...is gonna haunt me for the rest of the season. How, with Chris Sale on the mound and my lefty-killers tormenting Jose Quintana, do I still manage to lose this game? Sale was wonderful through 7, striking out 11 and only allowing one run on a sac-fly in the third. My lineup wasn't shy about laying on the runs, beginning with RBIs from Carlos Santana and Michael Conforto. There would be more RBIs during the rest of Sale's reign, including a Kevin Pillar solo homer, a Bogaerts RBI [speaking of which, Bogaerts held his own covering short once again], and a Chourio RBI in the 8th. The wildest moment of the game, prior to extras, came in the seventh, when Carlos Santana needed a snake-eyes for a 1-19 steal chance, and somehow the dice landed on two. I was in shock. Carlos Santana stole a base on one of the most marginal chances to do so. 

When Sale was taken out in the eighth, the Brewers were leading 5-1. Then immediately Victor Vodnik gives up three runs on homers from Jorge Soler and Kyle Schwarber. All I needed to do was get through the ninth without scoring a run, and with A.J. Puk I thought I could do that. But then Yasmani Grandal, now infuriating a second generation of the Schmidt family, exploited the error in Isaac Paredes' card, Oneil Cruz was walked on and Gerardo Perdomo's sac-fly brought Rickets home. 

The game was tied at 5, and went into extras...and this, folks, was the most exhausting extra innings in recent KPSL history. Nothing was getting done. Connor Norby for the Brewers and Ryan McMahon for the Braves kept striking out, combining for 9 on the night. Norby would be sent to the minors after the game, but while McMahon did stay up for the rest of the series, he was subjected to a lot of names by Jordan. Honestly, he deserved it. 

The Brewers left 17 men on base in this game. We also missed 3 or 4 split rolls for extra bases in the early innings, ones that, if we'd gotten them, would have ended the game in the ninth like we were supposed to. Ultimately, this game ended in the 13th, with Kyle Schwarber hitting a walkoff bases-loaded single off of Ryan Fernandez. It was an embarrassing loss. But it was an earned win for Jordan. Those first two games didn't come with the wins handed to us, we had to fight for 'em. 

Game 3: Braves 3, Brewers 1

W: Seth Lugo

L: Erick Fedde

Pretty cut-and-dry one, after all that. Pitching duel if I've ever seen one. Seth Lugo went for the complete game win, striking out 9 Brewers, and only allowing 3 hits, all prior to inning 5. The only run came from a sacfly from Jackson Chourio. Erick Fedde wasn't awful, going 7 and 2/3rds with 7 Ks and 5 hits. He allowed a 6th inning run on an RBI single from Jose Altuve. My mistake was bringing him out for the eighth, as that set up the 2-run Teoscar Hernandez shot that killed the game for us. Point blank, the Brewers didn't show up for this one. At the very least, J.P. Crawford scored a run in his first game back from his IL adventure.

Game 4: Brewers 7, Braves 0

W: Jameson Taillon

L: Zach Eflin

Jameson Taillon has been shaky for me, and this was an earned first win for him, presiding over a shutout of a lineup that'd caused me way too much trouble this series. In 8 innings he only allowed 3 hits and 3 walks, only needing to strike out 4. At last, my best defensive team was in place, and we held the Braves down despite Altuve threatening late. Meanwhile, the lineup had a little fun with Zach Eflin, taking him for some Crawford/Pillar RBIs in the 2nd that kept the lead narrow enough for the rest of his night. Then Joel Payamps gave up a 2-run homer to Jeimer Candelario, Chourio brought his grand RBI total for the series to four with 2 more off Bryce Jarvis. After Jarvis walked Nick Fortes home, Steve asked if the champagne was being set up in the Brewers' locker room. Giving A.J. Puk the ninth didn't exactly fill me with confidence seeing as my bullpen had made things much stickier in the first two games, but aside from a double from Altuve, he was electric, striking out the last three batters of the day to quiet any chance of a comeback. 

A 7-0 shutout, after all of that, meant as much to me as a series win would have. After blowing the second game, I'm just glad I got out of there with a split, and an earned split at that.

Jameson Taillon is solid in his game four outing against the Braves.