Milwaukee’s offense goes berserk in 16-9 victory over the Nationals

Box Score

Milwaukee blew out the Nationals today in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicates.

Brandon Lockridge, making his first career appearance as a Brewer, led off the game with a four-pitch strikeout. William Contreras, the next hitter, singled on a line drive to center field. Christian Yelich then worked a walk, but Nationals starter Mitchell Parker retired Andrew Vaughn and Caleb Durbin to end the inning.

Jose Quintana got into a little trouble in the bottom of the first, allowing a leadoff double to shortstop CJ Abrams. James Wood and Paul DeJong both flew out, but the second flyout advanced the speedy Abrams to third. Quintana couldn’t get out of the inning, however, as Luis Garcia Jr. singled on a ground ball to right, bringing Abrams around to score the game’s first run.

The Nationals wouldn’t remain ahead for long. New trade acquisition Danny Jansen grounded out to shortstop, but Blake Perkins hit a line drive home run to left, tying the game at one apiece.

Side note — the Apple TV+ call of the Perkins home run was one of the worst calls I’ve heard in a long time. It’s worth watching if you want a laugh:

Milwaukee wouldn’t score again in the frame despite a single from Joey Ortiz. Quintana kept the Nats at bay in the bottom of the second, which would be the last inning he’d pitch without a lead. Contreras, Christian Yelich, and Andrew Vaughn all singled to start the top of the third, with Vaughn’s single bringing home Contreras.

Durbin then laid down a perfect bunt down the first base line that brought first baseman Nathaniel Lowe in to field it. Neither Lowe nor Parker could beat Durbin to the bag, and Durbin slid into the base headfirst to load the bases.

The next hitter, Jansen, hit a fly ball to left that was just deep enough to score Yelich. Blake Perkins then popped out for the second out, but the Brewers weren’t done. Andruw Monasterio doubled off the top of the wall to score Vaughn and Durbin. Joey Ortiz then doubled to score Monasterio and make it 6-1 Milwaukee.

Quintana quickly got two outs in the bottom of the third, but Paul DeJong hit a home run to cut the Brewers’ lead to four. William Contreras led off the top of the fourth with another single, but Parker retired Yelich, Vaughn, and Durbin to get out of the inning.

Quintana’s final stat line (5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 4 K) wasn’t half-bad, but he was certainly making Brewers fans sweat. In the bottom of the fourth, Quintana put runners on first and second after hitting Daylen Lile and walking Riley Adams, but got Jacob Young to ground out for the third out.

Jansen started off the fifth with a single. After Jansen was Blake Perkins, who made sure the Apple TV+ announcers would remember his name:

Nationals manager Miguel Cairo had seen enough and pulled Parker, who had allowed eight runs in just four innings. His replacement, Jackson Rutledge, got the first batter, Monasterio, to ground out. He couldn’t get the same result from Ortiz and Lockridge, as both of them singled. Contreras grounded into a forceout at second. Yelich then singled to score Ortiz from third, making it 9-2 Brewers.

Rutledge walked Vaughn to load the bases, but Durbin popped out to end the inning. Abrams and Wood started the fifth with hits off Quintana, who again was able to bear down and get out of the inning without allowing a run. The top of the sixth was fairly uneventful save for a Monasterio single, but the Nationals got a couple of runs back in the bottom of the frame, courtesy of a Lile triple and a CJ Abrams single off of Grant Anderson.

It was still 9-4 Milwaukee at this point, but the Brewers weren’t done yet. Lockridge led off with a single, then stole second easily. Contreras, who’s been on fire recently, crushed a ball into the left-field stands for his fourth hit of the game. Nationals pitcher Ryan Loutos then struck out Yelich for the first out. After that, the Nats fell apart.

Andrew Vaughn singled before Durbin hit a ground ball into the hole at shortstop. Abrams was presumably trying to get the forceout at second, but threw the ball into right field on a throw that wasn’t even close. Vaughn and Durbin both advanced on the throwing error. Loutos then hit Jansen to load the bases.

The next batter, Blake Perkins, hit a chopper right to Loutos, who dropped the ball on the transfer, allowing Vaughn to score and keeping the bases loaded. Monasterio then singled into left for his third hit of the day, scoring Durbin to make it 13-4. Joey Ortiz then scored Jansen on a groundout, but Lockridge struck out to end the inning.

Aaron Ashby held Washington scoreless in the seventh, and in the top of the eighth, the Brewers got two more insurance runs on another Vaughn home run.

Neither team would score again until the bottom of the ninth, when Easton McGee did his best to get Trevor Megill a save opportunity. McGee allowed five runs and ended up throwing 47 pitches through two innings. Near the end of the ninth, Nick Mears was even warming up in the bullpen, and Pat Murphy (obviously) didn’t look happy. McGee eventually retired CJ Abrams on a fly ball to end the game with a final score of 16-9, Milwaukee.

Milwaukee ended up totaling 25 hits in today’s game. A few Brewers put up season-best numbers, including:

William Contreras: 5-for-7, HR, 2B

Andruw Monasterio: 4-for-6, 3 RBI

Blake Perkins: 2-for-6, 2 HR

Every Brewer to record a plate appearance in today’s game had multiple hits except for Jansen, who had a hit, an RBI, and reached base twice. Ortiz, Monasterio, and Lockridge combined for nine hits. The Brewers’ offense clearly objects to the notion that GM Matt Arnold should have traded for another bat before yesterday’s trade deadline.

Brandon Woodruff will take the mound tomorrow for the Brewers. The game will be broadcast live on both FanDuel Sports Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network. First pitch is set for 3:05 p.m.