Peralta’s struggles continue, Brewers manage just four hits
The Milwaukee Brewers have an unfortunate recent history of heading into the All-Star break with a bit of malaise, and fans were surely wary of that after seeing their team drop two of three to the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier this week. Trying to finish strong, they turned to Freddy Peralta to try to keep the Washington Nationals in check.
With the Brewers and their fans hoping to see more efficiency from Peralta, it wasn’t a great start. He gave up a leadoff single to the Nationals’ lone All-Star, CJ Abrams, and fell behind rookie mega-prospect James Wood before striking him out on a 3-2 pitch (a generous call on a pitch that appeared to be off the outside edge). Abrams stole second with one out, Lane Thomas grounded out, and former Brewer Jesse Winker fell behind 0-2 but Peralta left a slider in the zone and Winker knocked a two-out RBI double into the left field gap. Juan Yepez jumped on the next pitch and smoked a line drive into right, but Winker—not the fastest bloke—tried to score from second and was thrown out at the plate by Sal Frelick. After half an inning, Washington led 1-0.
Nationals starter Jackson Rutledge, making just his fifth major league start, got off to a good start, retiring Brice Turang, William Contreras, and Christian Yelich (with a little help from the umpire) in order.
Peralta was much better in the second inning, as he needed just nine pitches to get the Nationals in a 1-2-3 inning. Willy Adames nearly had Milwaukee’s first hit to lead off the bottom of the inning but Jacob Young made a great diving catch in centerfield. Frelick, the next batter, did get that hit when he blooped a single over the head of Abrams. It didn’t lead to anything, though, as Rhys Hoskins struck out and Garrett Mitchell grounded out to end the inning.
Young reached on an infield single to start the top of the third, but Abrams followed with a 1-5-3 double play. Wood singled with two outs and nobody on and stole second base, but Peralta struck out Thomas looking to end the inning. Unfortunately, Rutledge continued to shut down the Brewers in the bottom of the inning, and through three, it was still 1-0 Nationals.
Yepez hit a one-out double in the top of the fourth and Luis García Jr. followed with a Texas leaguer into left to put runners on the corner with one out. Keibert Ruiz followed with the Nationals’ third straight hit, and their lead increased to two. A mound visit didn’t help, as Trey Lipscomb hit the next pitch off the wall to score another one. Peralta, whose offspeed stuff was getting mashed all day, then struck out Young on three straight fastballs, and finally struck out Abrams after an eight-pitch battle to end a long inning.
Now trailing 3-0 and 9-1 in the hit column, the Brewers looked for a response in the bottom of the fourth with their best hitters coming to the plate, and they got one. Contreras got things started with a walk, and after a Yelich flyout, Adames hit one off the wall in center field—it was inches from being a home run—and that scored Contreras from first to make it 3-1. Frelick followed with another double, this one into the right field corner, and Adames scored, and it was 3-2. Hoskins and Mitchell were retired and Frelick was stranded at two, but the offense had finally shown some life.
Willy Sal
doubles pic.twitter.com/l5H620FtM2— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 13, 2024
Peralta came out firing in the top of the fifth, striking out Wood and retiring Thomas with help from an excellent play on a short hop by Joey Ortiz. But Peralta’s elusive shutdown inning was not to be: tonight’s villain, Winker, got a 3-1 fastball right down the middle and hit it deep into right center. The Nationals’ lead was back to two. (With an RBI double and a home run, I think Winker outproduced his entire 2023 season in this game.)
Ortiz struck out looking to start the bottom of the fifth (he was upset about it; there was a 3-1 pitch that should have been ball four, but strike three was definitely in the zone even if Ortiz didn’t think so) and Jackson Chourio struck out swinging. Turang drew a two-out walk, and Contreras should have grounded out to end the inning, but Abrams Buckner’d it at shortstop and the inning continued, but not for Rutledge, who was replaced by lefty Robert Garcia with two outs and runners on the corners. Garcia came in to face Yelich, who battled and came back from a 1-2 count to work a walk and load the bases for Adames, but Adames struck out and the score remained 4-2 after five.
Peralta, who needed 92 pitches to get through five innings, was pulled after the fifth in favor of Joel Payamps, who had no trouble and retired the Nationals on three straight groundouts. Frelick led off the sixth with his third hit of the game, a single that dropped in front of Wood in left. But Hoskins struck out, Mitchell grounded into a fielder’s choice (his third ground ball to second base of the night), and Ortiz struck out, and Garcia was through 1 1⁄3 scoreless innings in relief.
Payamps gave way to Hoby Milner in the seventh. He got off to a troublesome start as he walked the Nationals’ number nine hitter, the speedy Young. Milner nearly got out of it when he struck out Abrams and retired Wood on a swinging bunt, but Lane Thomas hit a jam-shot single into center, in exactly the wrong spot, and Young scored. Thomas was caught stealing to end the inning, but the Nationals had restored their three-run lead.
Chourio thought he had a leadoff single up the middle against new pitcher Derek Law, but Abrams made a catch on a full-extension dive. (This is the point where it really felt like it wasn’t going to be the Brewers’ night.) Turang walked for a second time with one out, but Contreras tapped one back to Law for an easy double play, and the inning was over.
Milner had a three-up, three-down inning in the eighth, but the Brewers needed some offense. Yelich started the eighth inning by getting hit by a pitch against new pitcher Hunter Harvey, and it looked like the Brewers would be in business when Adames hit a ground ball that appeared on a path to get through the left side, but Lipscomb made a good diving play and got Yelich at second base. Frelick and Hoskins struck out, and the leadoff baserunner didn’t matter.
Bryse Wilson was tasked with keeping the lead at three, and he put up a zero after working around a one-out single. The Brewers needed three runs off of Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan, who is having an excellent season. Jake Bauers, pinch hitting for Mitchell, battled hard as the leadoff hitter and worked Finnegan for 11 pitches but struck out. Ortiz, in contrast, went after the first pitch and grounded out to shortstop, and Chourio struck out to end it.
It was a dispiriting loss for the Brewers, who have lost three of their first four on this homestand against two teams under .500. The offense just couldn’t get it going, even against a rookie pitcher whose ERA was north of six in the minor leagues this year. (The one shoutout here goes to Sal Frelick, who had three of the team’s four hits, including an RBI double, as well as an assist to prevent another Nationals’ run.) Their suddenly-scuffling lineup has scored two or fewer runs in all three of the losses on this homestand, and that includes a 1-0 loss to the Pirates. Their nominal ace, Peralta, again struggled, and Contreras, who has been so good all season, is clearly in need of a break.
Milwaukee will look to bounce back tomorrow—two wins against this very beatable Nationals team can still salvage a .500 homestand. But I think it’s safe to say that Brewers fans are tired of seeing their team crash land into the All-Star break. First pitch is at 3:10 p.m, when we’ll see Dallas Keuchel take on Mitchell Parker.