Bullpen falters as Brewers drop rubber match to Braves 6-2

Brewers get two early but can’t add on

Box Score

The Brewers faced an uphill battle on Wednesday afternoon. Chris Sale was on the mound for the Braves, and with the Braves strong bullpen behind him, runs were going to be at a premium. That’s how it ended up playing out, as the Brewers managed an early lead but couldn’t add on. Meanwhile, the Brewers bullpen couldn’t keep the Braves in check as the Brewers lost 6-2 on Wednesday afternoon.

The game started off well enough. The first three batters (Jackson Chourio, Rhys Hoskins, Gary Sánchez) all singled and the Brewers had a 1-0 lead before recording an out. Joey Ortiz added a walk and Blake Perkins a sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 2-0. That’s where the game stood after one inning.

From there, the starting pitchers settled in. Freddy Peralta got through his first three innings scoreless, and Chris Sale didn’t allow anything else in the first three innings. Peralta’s one bad inning came in the fourth. He allowed home runs on back-to-back pitches to Matt Olson and Travis d’Arnaud. The Braves tied the game at 2-2 after four innings. Peralta almost gave up another home run in the fifth inning, but Blake Perkins made sure that wouldn’t happen, calmly reaching over the wall to bring one back.

Meanwhile, the Brewers chased Sale out of the game in the sixth. After Sale got Willy Adames and Ortiz out to start the inning, Perkins doubled and Sal Frelick drew a walk. The Braves went to Pierce Johnson, and the Brewers countered with a pinch hit from William Contreras. That worked as Contreras loaded the bases. However, Pat Murphy stuck with Andruw Monasterio with the bases loaded, and that backfired as Monasterio struck out to end the inning.

Of the two starting pitchers, Peralta put up the better game. He pitched six innings and allowed two runs, both on solo home runs. Those were two of the three hits he allowed. He also walked two batters and struck out seven. Meanwhile, Sale pitched 5 ²⁄₃ innings, also allowing two runs. He allowed six hits and three walks, striking out six.

The Brewers went to Jared Koenig for the seventh. After an opening strikeout, Orlando Arcia reached base on an error from Joey Ortiz. Arcia was erased on a fielder’s choice groundout for the second out. However, Whit Merrifield singled and Jorge Soler walked to load the bases. Murphy went to Elvis Peguero, but that didn’t work as Austin Riley singled to score two. The runs went down as unearned to Koenig, but the Braves had a 4-2 lead.

Nick Mears came in for the eighth, and it ended up being a near repeat of the fourth inning. Both Olson and d’Arnaud hit home runs on two of Mears’ first three pitches. That extended the Braves lead to 6-2. Mears got out of the eighth with no other issues. He allowed a walk and single in the ninth, but got two outs before Hoby Milner finished the inning. Unfortunately, the Brewers didn’t put up another scoring threat as they lost 6-2.

Chourio and Sánchez each had two-hit days to lead the offense. The Brewers matched the Braves with eight hits and four walks. However, the Brewers offense couldn’t capitalize on their scoring chances. They went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base. The Braves were better with a 2-for-7 day, but the four solo home runs ended up being the difference for them.

The Brewers get Thursday off before they start an NL East road trip in Washington. Frankie Montas will make his Brewers debut on Friday, facing Jake Irvin of the Nationals. First pitch is set for 5:45 p.m, and it will be an Apple TV+ exclusive game.