Brewers fail to capitalize, bullpen falters late in 4-2 loss to Marlins

Box Score

The Milwaukee Brewers dropped a tough game on Saturday afternoon in Miami, as the Marlins eked out a couple of late runs and the Brewers couldn’t take advantage of scoring opportunities in a 4-2 loss.

After a 1-2-3 first for the Brewers and a scoreless first with a single by Jesús Sánchez for the Marlins, the Crew struck first in the second. Jackson Chourio started things off with an infield single and stole second as Brice Turang struck out for the first out.

The next batter, Rhys Hoskins, hit a liner to center that was nearly caught by Dane Myers but instead got under his glove and rolled all the way to the wall. That allowed Chourio to score with ease while Hoskins trotted into third with his first triple since 2022 with the Phillies. Unfortunately for the Brewers, they were unable to cash him in, as Isaac Collins struck out and Caleb Durbin grounded out to end the inning.

Miami had an answer immediately in the bottom of the inning, as Kyle Stowers took a 1-1 pitch from Chad Patrick out to right field for a solo home run. Patrick continued to struggle from there, as Eric Wagaman and Liam Hicks hit back-to-back doubles to cash in another run for the 2-1 lead. After a mound visit, Patrick settled in to escape without any further damage. Myers popped out, Javier Sanoja grounded out, and Xavier Edwards — who has just one career homer over 708 plate appearances — gave one a ride, but it hung up for Sal Frelick on the warning track.

Down 2-1, the Brewers looked to respond against Cal Quantrill in the third. A two-out double by William Contreras put a runner in scoring position, but Christian Yelich couldn’t cash him in as he was called out on strikes on a questionable pitch that also featured a delayed call from home plate umpire Alex Tosi.

While they couldn’t tie it up in the third, the Brewers did have an answer in the fourth. Chourio started the inning with his second hit of the day, a double to left, before he moved to third on a groundout by Brice Turang. Hoskins walked to put runners at the corners with one out, and Collins followed with an RBI single to knot it at 2-2.

Durbin kept the inning going with a bloop single to center, loading the bases with one out for Joey Ortiz, who seemingly has had the bases loaded in every at-bat this road trip. Ortiz struck out before Josh Simpson replaced Quantrill, and the new pitcher retired Frelick on a flyout to get out of the bases-loaded jam.

From there, both offenses quieted down quite a bit.

Patrick worked around a one-out walk in the fourth, but a scary moment took place when Wagaman grounded out to Ortiz at short. Ortiz’s throw went wide down the first base line, and Hoskins, applying the tag to Wagaman, was in obvious discomfort after the play. He remained in the game but was ultimately removed in the fifth with what the team described as “left thumb discomfort.”

Chourio got his third hit of the afternoon with a two-out single in the fifth, but Milwaukee was unable to cash him in. The two squads then traded 1-2-3 innings through the end of the sixth before Milwaukee put up another threat in the seventh.

Frelick picked up a one-out single and Yelich followed with a two-out single to put runners at first and second, but they wouldn’t make it the rest of the way to home, as Chourio squared one up but hit it right to Sánchez for the third out.

DL Hall, who worekd the 1-2-3 sixth, worked another 1-2-3 inning in the seventh but did give up a long out number three to Hicks, who hit it 384 feet before it was caught by Frelick at the wall.

Ronny Henriquez set down the Brewers quickly in the eighth, and Nick Mears came on to replace Hall in the eighth. He gave up a leadoff single to Myers and, on a pickoff play at first, threw it away. Luckily, the ball hit off first base umpire Ron Kulpa, saving Mears and Co. from a runner in scoring position. Moments later, he nearly picked Myers off, but the call stood as safe after Milwaukee challenged.

After all that, Sanoja singled on a 3-2 count, putting runners at first and second with no outs. A mound visit from Chris Hook did little to help, as Edwards followed with a perfect bunt down the third base line, loading the bases with nobody out.

Mears was pulled for Jared Koenig, who had the tall task of stopping the bleeding and, ideally, keeping the game tied heading into the ninth. He nearly did just that, striking out Connor Norby and getting a forceout at the plate on a soft-hit comebacker.

With two outs and two strikes, however, rookie Agustín Ramírez came up in a big way, hitting a pitch down the middle into left field and scoring a pair of runs for the 4-2 lead. Koenig set down pinch-hitter Heriberto Hernandez to end the inning, but the damage was done, as Milwaukee would need to push across at least two to stay alive in the ninth.

They’d have to do so against UW-Whitewater product Lake Bachar, looking for his first career save. Durbin started the inning with an infield pop out before pinch-hitter Anthony Siegler gave one a ride that was caught by Derek Hill against the wall. Frelick then flew out to end the game, as Bachar made quick work of Milwaukee on eight pitches.

This wasn’t a bad loss by any means, but the Brewers did have plenty of opportunities and just couldn’t take advantage, as they’ve done so many times with Patrick on the hill this season — he’s received more than four runs in support just once (May 31 against the Phillies) since April 6, a span of 16 starts.

Milwaukee outhit Miami 9-8, with three hits coming from Chourio, who also scored both of Milwaukee’s runs. Hoskins and Collins each had an RBI hit, while no players outside of Chourio and Hoskins (triple and a walk) reached more than once.

Patrick took the no-decision with five innings of two-run ball, striking out two. Hall worked two perfect innings with two strikeouts, while Mears took the loss as he allowed three hits and recorded no outs before Koenig nearly saved the day.

The Brewers will look to take Sunday’s rubber match and salvage a 3-3 road trip as Brandon Woodruff makes his much-anticipated return, his first start since the end of the 2023 season. He’ll match up with Edward Cabrera for Miami. First pitch is at 12:40 p.m. CT in that one.