The loud swings were just about all saved for after the game.
Back home after their West Coast swing to open the second half, the Milwaukee Brewers were quiet offensively ahead of a postgame alumni home run derby in a 5-1 loss to the Miami Marlins at American Family Field that featured a seventh-inning bullpen implosion.
Did it feel like the Brewers were just stuck in the mud?
“That’s a pretty good assessment,” manager Pat Murphy said.
Jackson Chourio’s fourth-inning solo home run was one of only two runners to reach scoring position for the Brewers before the final three innings.
Otto Lopez supplied the crushing blow with a three-run double in the seventh off Brewers reliever Nick Mears, taking advantage of spotty control from the right-hander. Mears walked the first two batters he faced in the inning, which loaded the bases for Lopez. After falling behind in the count yet again, Mears placed a fastball right over the plate and Lopez crushed it on a rope to right-center to turn a tie game into a three-run Marlins lead.
“It’s bound to happen,” Murphy said. “We’re an inch from the top. It’s a very fine line. You got to come with that edge every day… We had some things go against us. They got some timely hits. We gave up some free bases and made some defensive miscues .
Murphy revealed after the game that Mears hurt his back on the final warm-up pitch in the bullpen before coming in.
BOX SCORE: Marlins 5, Brewers 1
The loss was the Brewers’ first in a series opener in more than a month, dating back to June 23 against the Pittsburgh Pirates at home.
In all, it was a more-than-deserved outcome for the Brewers, who were outplayed in all facets over nine innings by the suddenly-surging Marlins, winners in 19 of their last 27 games. Miami had nine of the 10 hardest-hit balls in the game, put 14 men on base safely compared to Milwaukee’s seven and played a clean defensive game while the hosts bungled three errors to drop to 61-42.
“That team over there is hot,” Murphy said. “They’re playing good, and they’re coming of age. It’s reflected in the last 10 games, how some of those players are coming into their own and they’re just old enough.
“…Credit goes to the Marlins. They stuck it to us.”
Brewers bullpen implodes in seventh
After flirting with danger for much of the afternoon, Brewers pitching finally caved with runners on base.
Aaron Ashby began the seventh inning on the mound and allowed a leadoff infield single, which he then moved to second on an errant pickoff throw. That loomed large as the next batter hit a potential double play grounder to third.
The Brewers then turned to Mears, who had tweaked his back in the bullpen but didn’t inform the team of it until after the game.
“He wrenched his back on the last pitch coming into the game. He thought he could pitch through it,” Murphy said.
Not pitching at 100%, Mears proceeded to throw three strikes to the next three hitters. The first two came during a walk of Kyle Stowers, one of Mears’ two bases on balls to load the bases; the third was a line drive smash to right-center off the bat of Lopez that scored three and gave Miami a 4-1 lead.
An error in center by Blake Perkins allowed Lopez to score on Liam Hicks’ ensuing deep fly to right, which made the deficit four runs.
Mears, who got the loss July 22 in Seattle to snap the Brewers’ 11-game win streak, was ultimately tagged with two earned runs while Ashby was responsible for one. It marked the fourth time in his last five outings that Ashby was scored upon after he went 10 of his first 11 unblemished.
No win this time for Freddy Peralta
A lone blemish on Freddy Peralta’s ledger kept him from being eligible to earn the win in an eighth straight start.
Peralta struck out nine over five innings, allowing only a Kyle Stowers solo homer in the third for scoring, while scattering four other hits and two walks. The Marlins didn’t scratch across much in terms of runs but made Peralta work for every out. Of the 21 batters he faced, 13 saw four or more pitches and that ultimately led to an elevated pitch count of 98 through just five frames.
“Some ABs I put myself in trouble, I was behind in the count,” Peralta said. “But then I made an adjustment. I was able to make an adjustment. But that killed me today, the long ABs they got against me. And they took advantage of that.”
The longest at-bat of the afternoon was Agustín Ramirez’s in the fifth, an 11-pitch battle that ended with a hard-hit double play grounder to second.
Five of Peralta’s nine strikeouts — which put him one behind Teddy Higuera for third in franchise history — came on the curveball. That total matched his career-high for a single game.
“We just read that they wren’t putting good swings on the curveball and decided to throw it more,” Peralta said. “We’re able to go away from the game plan. It just depends on how everything is going in the moment. Today was one of those days and (catcher William Contreras and I) are so connected that we kind of know each other and when we have to do it.”
Jackson Chourio extends streak with a loud swing
Make it an 18-game hitting streak for Jackson Chourio, who responded to having the bat taken out of his hands in his first at-bat with a big swing the next time up.
In the second, Chourio struck out despite not swinging at any of the six pitches out of the zone he saw, the final of which also hit him on the hand. But first base umpire Tony Randazzo rung Chourio up on the 3-2 pitch, saying he swung, although any follow-through on the bat was its residual momentum after he was struck.
Chourio responded with his 17th home run of the year, a 405 shot to center on a 2-2 splitter from Cal Quantrill.
The 21-year-old is just two games away from becoming the first Brewers hitter since Ryan Braun in 2011 (and only sixth overall) to record a 20-game hitting streak.
Big fly opens the scoring
It wasn’t a bad pitch by Peralta. It was just an incredible piece of hitting.
Stowers, the Marlins left fielder, swung at a two-strike, two-out changeup just above the knees and drove it 392 feet out to the opposite field for a solo home run against Peralta to open the scoring in the third. It was the 23rd homer of the year by the all-star Stowers, who has broken out as one of the National League’s top hitters this year.
Blake Perkins can’t rob the homer but saves a run
It didn’t take long for a bizarre play to unfold.
With two outs in the top of the first, what was ruled as a Ramírez solo home run on the field was not only overturned upon replay review but the umpiring crew actually determined he had to go back a base because the defense gave up on the play once the call was made. Ramírez hit a towering fly to straightaway center off Peralta that Perkins, playing his first game at American Family Field this year, nearly made a spectacular grab on. Perkins snagged the ball in his webbing as he reached over the fence, but it slipped out as he pulled it back. Somehow, though, the ball never hit anything but Perkins’ glove past fence and it fell back into play after bouncing on the yellow padding.
Peralta wound up walking the next hitter but got Otto Lopez to ground out to end the inning.
What time is the Brewers game today?
Time: 3:10 p.m. CT
What channel is the Brewers game on today?
TV channel: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin.
Is the Brewers alumni home run derby on TV?
Yes, the postgame home run derby will be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Wisconsin live.
Brewers lineupBrice Turang 2BWilliam Contreras CChristian Yelich DHJackson Chourio RFIsaac Collins LFAndrew Vaughn 1BBlake Perkins CFCaleb Durbin 3BJoey Ortiz SSMarlins lineupXavier Edwards 2BJesús Sánchez RFAgustín Ramírez DHKyle Stowers LFOtto Lopez SSLiam Hicks CEric Wagaman 1BGraham Pauley 3BDane Myers CFBrewers schedule
Brewers vs. Marlins, July 26, 6:10 p.m.: Milwaukee LHP José Quintana (7-3, 3.49) vs. Miami RHP Janson Junk (4-2, 3.09). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers vs. Marlins, July 27, 1:10 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Brandon Woodruff (2-0, 1.65) vs. Miami RHP Eury Pérez (3-3, 3.23). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.