Brewers lose heartbreaker in Saturday night battle with Diamondbacks, 5-4

Brewers’ bullpen gives up five runs in bottom of the ninth as D-backs mount huge comeback

Box Score

The Milwaukee Brewers dropped a heartbreaker in the desert on Saturday night, as a bullpen collapse allowed the Diamondbacks to score five runs in the bottom of the ninth in a 5-4 loss.

With a Corbin Burnes vs. Chad Patrick matchup, the D-backs looked like they would strike first, as Corbin Carroll singled and Geraldo Perdomo walked to open up the night against Patrick. Luckily for Patrick, he was able to induce a double play from Pavin Smith before getting Josh Naylor to fly out to end the inning.

That would signal much of what was to come for Arizona’s offense on the night.

The Brewers put together some offense in the top of the second against Burnes, as William Contreras singled, Sal Frelick walked, and Rhys Hoskins singled to bring Contreras in for a 1-0 lead. Garrett Mitchell then walked to load the bases before Joey Ortiz bounced into a double play that scored Frelick from third.

With a 2-0 lead, Patrick worked a cleaner second inning, allowing a one-out single to Eugenio Suárez but nothing else.

After Brice Turang was caught stealing in the third — a rare CS for the speedy second baseman — the D-backs got another leadoff runner on with a Garrett Hampson single, but Carroll struck out and Hampson was thrown out trying to steal second for an unconventional double play to help Patrick work another clean inning.

Naylor got to third with one out after a double and a flyout in the fourth, but the D-backs once again failed to bring him around as a soft flyout and a groundout got Patrick out of the jam.

Patrick was lifted with one out in the fifth, and reliever Bryan Hudson got into some trouble of his own as he walked Perdomo and gave up a double to pinch-hitter Randal Grichuk before getting Naylor to fly out and escape unscathed.

Jackson Chourio added an insurance run with a long homer off Burnes — his fifth of the year — in the sixth, putting Milwaukee up 3-0.

Arizona couldn’t get anybody past second base in the sixth, seventh, or eighth, but the Brewers tacked on another insurance run in the top of the ninth as Chourio singled before scoring on a Contreras double.

With a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth, Pat Murphy went to the struggling Joel Payamps, who got a groundout from Suárez before walking Gabriel Moreno. He then allowed a triple to Alek Thomas, allowing Moreno to score as Murphy went to Trevor Megill with a save opportunity now on the line.

Megill, who has had command issues in the past, showed some of those issues tonight, as he walked Hampson on four pitches and fell behind Carroll before allowing a long double —it would’ve been a homer in basically any other spot in the ballpark.

A battle with Perdomo ended with a walk, and with the go-ahead run now on first, Jake McCarthy lined a single to right that allowed Perdomo to move to third base with one out. The Brewers intentionally walked Naylor to load the bases, but Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit the first pitch he saw to Frelick in right, just deep enough to allow Perdomo to score the winning run.

It was a tough loss to take, as the D-backs left 10 runners on but still did enough late to get the win. The game echoed of Milwaukee’s series finale loss to Arizona in Phoenix last September, when Murphy’s decision not to go to Devin Williams late resulted in a loss. This time, he gave Megill the save opportunity after a rough go from Payamps, but it didn’t work out in his favor as Arizona evened the series at 1-1.

Patrick did his job once again, striking out three and allowing no runs on five hits and two walks over 4 ¹⁄₃ innings. Hudson, Abner Uribe, Jared Koenig, and Nick Mears were all solid in relief, but their performances were overshadowed by Payamps (1/3 IP, 2 ER) and Megill (1/3 IP, 3 ER).

Offensively, Chourio and Contreras accounted for four of Milwaukee’s six hits, with Turang and Hoskins also getting a single each.

The Crew will look to forget this one as they try to wrap up another series and a winning road trip against Arizona tomorrow. It’s a matchup of two aces, with Freddy Peralta and Zac Gallen on the hill. First pitch is set for 3:10 p.m. CT.