The Brewers didn’t put together another offensive outburst like they did last night, but they managed to pick up their second straight win thanks to another outstanding effort from the pitching staff and some timely hitting. Robert Gasser held the Angels to one run over five innings and Milwaukee’s bullpen allowed just one hit while striking out seven over the final four as the Brewers ground out a 3-1 victory.
Although Milwaukee won, Los Angeles struck first after being held to two runs in yesterday’s game. With one out in the first, Mike Trout singled, and Jorge Soler followed by ripping a two-out RBI double into left field, scoring Trout all the way from first to give Los Angeles an early 1-0 lead. Gasser settled in from there, striking out Nolan Schanuel to end the inning before going on to toss four more scoreless frames. He finished with five innings of one-run ball, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out six.
Brent Suter got the start for the Angels after José Soriano was scratched amid trade speculation ahead of Monday’s deadline. Suter cruised through the first, but ran into trouble in the second. He recorded two outs sandwiched around a walk to Andrew Vaughn before issuing back-to-back walks to Garrett Mitchell and Cooper Pratt to load the bases. Next up was Joey Ortiz with a chance to put Milwaukee in front, but he grounded into a force out at third to end the inning.
Suter’s night ended after two innings, with Brett Kerry taking over in the third. Kerry escaped that inning despite allowing a double to William Contreras, but Jake Bauers led off the fourth by launching a solo homer to right-center field. The blast, Bauers’ 20th of the season, tied the game at 1-1.
Chad Patrick took over for Gasser to begin the sixth and completely shut down the Angels, allowing just one hit while striking out five over two dominant innings. Ortiz struck out to open the eighth, but Jackson Chourio followed with a double to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Brice Turang then battled back from an 0-2 count before looping a soft liner into center that dropped just in front of a charging Trout, allowing Chourio to score and give Milwaukee its first lead of the night.
The Brewers added an insurance run in the ninth after Mitchell drew a one-out walk and stole second, then Pratt followed with a single through the middle to bring him home. In the bottom of the ninth, Trevor Megill needed just three batters to finish off the Angels, securing Milwaukee’s second straight win. At 69-41, the Brewers once again own the best record in baseball, moving a half-game ahead of the Dodgers — who, of course, added prized pitcher Tarik Skubal during this game. A victory tomorrow would make Milwaukee the first team to reach 70 wins, at least until the Dodgers and Red Sox play later in the day.
The Brewers will go for the series sweep tomorrow afternoon behind NL Cy Young frontrunner Jacob Misiorowski. He’ll face Walbert Ureña (6-7, 2.70 ERA) in the series finale, with first pitch scheduled for 2:15 p.m.
