Brewers Bats Come Alive, Take 3 of 4 from Arizona

I keep my expectations low for a reason. After getting swept by Jim earlier this season, all I wanted from tonight's series against him was one win. That way I'd prove that I could beat him at all this year. I got that win immediately, and wound up with 2 more, plus a fourth game that honestly should have been a win. I was playing the D-Backs at home, and looking at some future matchups this one felt like an easier time, and it was. 

Though no win was an absolute gimme, and though there was tension in all games thanks to my bullpen and Jim's clutch hitting, I wound up winning 3 of 4, and bringing my record to 32-40. It ain't terrific, but it's keeping me out of last.

Here now the details, presented in glorious D'Arn-o-vision:

Game 1- Brewers 6, Diamondbacks 3

W: Pierce Johnson

L: Pedro Avila

SV: Kyle Finnegan

Of my wins tonight, this one was acting like a loss for a while. I managed to get two runs early on a Kevin Pillar 2-run homer off Michael King, but aside from that the righty stifled this lineup, with 6 Ks and 5 hits over 6 innings. On the other hand, Andrew Heaney had his best start since coming over from the Giants, going 6 strong with 3 hits, 6 Ks and 1 run on a Eguy Rosario sac-fly in the 6th. The whole middle bit of this game consisted of the Brewers having every opportunity to get runs scored and nothing happening. The bases were loaded for Conforto in the 5th and I rolled a ballpark single, which in Milwaukee was an out. Lots of that.

All the while Jim started cobbling together a rally. In the 7th, Ezequiel Tovar tripled home Luis Arraez [before getting caught stealing home], making it a tie game. Then in the 8th, Trevor Story hit a pinch-hit homer off Pierce Johnson, making it 3-2. Thanks to my lineup loafing, the small lead we'd had all game was now nonexistent. 

Jim did put on a lefty reliever, Jalen Beeks, to face me, but I could do nothing against him. With 2 outs in the bottom of the eighth, I brought in Heliot Ramos, the team lefty killer, to face Beeks. Knowing what was probably about to happen, Jim brought in Pedro Avila. So Ramos hit a double off him. Then Santana hit a double. Then Bogaerts hit a double. The doubling brought the Brewers back on top, and to erase any chance of a ninth inning rally, Travis d'Arnaud hit a 2-run bomb to make it 6-3. Though Kyle Finnegan managed to juice the bases for Garrett Stubbs, he grounded out to avert what could have been a catastrophic inning. Like I said, it was not an easy win.

Game 2: Brewers 7, Diamondbacks 6

W: Graham Ashcraft

L: Frankie Montas

SV: Pierce Johnson

Graham Ashcraft and Frankie Montas. Two pitchers with enough black ink to scare any manager. Ashcraft was a former D-Back, and had a great season for Jim last year before 'ego issues' led to a trade to Colorado, then to Milwaukee. What I'm saying is that it's understandable that Ashcraft's best start of the season happened against the D-Backs. Circumstantially he had every reason to be fired up.

Through 6 innings, his longest since his Brewers debut against Philly, Ashcraft only allowed 1 run, on a Jesus Sanchez solo homer, gave up only 5 hits and K'd three. Jim just was not getting the rolls with Ashcraft on.

Meanwhile, the Brewers had much better luck against Montas. In the second, he gave up 4 straight singles, two of which brought in runs. Then in the third he gave up a two-run homer to Jeimer Candelario. Then in the fourth, he gave up a homer to, of all people, Luis Guillorme, who was on his way to a 3-for-3, 3 RBI game. In the sixth, J.P. Crawford would double home Blake Perkins, and Guillorme would strike again with another RBI single [bringing him over .200 for the first time all year]. It was 7-1 going into the 7th, and things were looking very good.

Then I made the decision to bring in Victor Vodnik in the 7th. This was not a good idea. Vodnik kept loading the bases and people like Luis Arraez and Charlie Blackmon were bringing people home. Then I brought in another pitcher and on a killer Donovan Solano single 2 more came home. My lead had evaporated, and it was now a 7-6 ballgame, and it was up to my bullpen, which had just made it too close for comfort. Fortunately after that, they cleaned up. Fernandez made things scary in the 8th but Pierce Johnson ended the inning with a K, and notched 2 more in the ninth on the way to a four-out save. A great win, but, again, too close for comfort.

Game 3- Diamondbacks 4, Brewers 3

W: Sean Hjelle

L: Kyle Finnegan

SV: Jeremiah Estrada

I really should have won this game. I was within inches of doing so. Maybe if I put on a different closer I walk away with a sweep. But it just got away from me. 

All the pieces of a win were there. Jameson Taillon had another excellent start for me, spinning 7 shutout innings while striking out 4. While Taillon was on, Jim left a lot of runners in scoring position and none of them made it home, despite Jesus's Sanchez's best contact efforts. The Brewers made relatively easy work out of Andre Pallante, as Isaac Paredes doubled a run off him in the third, and some excellent contact work from Carlos Santana and Gavin Lux got 2 more runs home. 

It's important to note that Jim and I were completely shut out of any lead opportunities in stealing during the first 2 games. The first stolen base of the series happened in the 6th inning of this game, and it was from Jeimer Candelario.

Anyhow, it was a 3-0 shutout heading into the eighth. John King let a run go by on an error, making it 3-1. Then in the ninth, I put my closer, Kyle Finnegan on. Usually he's alright in save situations, but here he absolutely blew up. A single, a walk, a fielder's choice, a strikeout, then a double, a single and a double to bring runs home. It was now 4-3, and now it was down to my back half to save the game. They didn't. Ugly, ugly loss. We got outplayed, outclutched and just outthought. 

Game 4- Brewers 7, Diamondbacks 4

W: Bailey Falter

L: Andrew Abbott

SV: Kyle Finnegan

It was, at the very least, exciting that I was finally facing a lefty this series. But it was Andrew Abbott. I didn't do very well against him my first time out. So it was looking like a split. With my lefty-killers, I thought, I'd at least make it close. And, uh...kinda.

The reckoning for Abbott came first in the second inning, where he gave up two straight solo homers to Michael Conforto and Travis D'Arnaud. In the fourth, some small ball got a run home thanks to Kevin Pillar stymying the Arizona infield. And then in the fifth, two more solo shots, one from Carlos Santana, and one more from D'Arnaud, making this D'Arnaud's third 4-game stretch with 3 or more homers this season. Dude just knows how to get hot at the right time I guess. 

Bailey Falter only gave up 2 runs, thanks to Charlie Blackmon doubling home Santiago Espinal in the 3rd and Luis Arraez doubling Donovan Solano home in the 4th, but other than that he was working all day, striking out 4 through 6. The single best thing about this series was that my rotation was on point, and none of my starters lost games. Big moral win for the Brewers.

Once again, my bullpen made this closer than it need to be, as Rosario and Solano brought 2 more runs home in the eighth off of John King again. Since Heliot Ramos brought home a run in the 6th [despite not homering, Heliot had a high contact day against a lefty], it was 7-4 heading into the ninth. Thinking I may regret this in the morning, I gave Finnegan another shot. He K'd two, singled a man on and Blackmon flied out to end it. 

Brewers Heliot Ramos name was frequently called as part of their series win over the Dbacks.