{"id":232857,"date":"2025-08-08T03:19:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T03:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/232857\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T03:19:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T03:19:18","slug":"brewers-shut-out-for-fourth-time-in-five-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/232857\/","title":{"rendered":"Brewers shut out for fourth time in five games"},"content":{"rendered":"

The times are dark for the Milwaukee Brewers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Maybe if they didn\u2019t enter the season with such high expectations, things would be different. Maybe if this team \u2014 which was largely the same, except for one key guy \u2014 hadn\u2019t been so good last season, things would be different. But right now, the Brewers simply cannot hit. In 15 games in May, they\u2019re averaging 2.3 runs per game; if you exclude Wednesday\u2019s 9-5 victory over Cleveland, they\u2019re averaging 1.8 runs per game. They\u2019ve been shut out six times. Curious about this offensive ineptitude, I checked: going into tonight\u2019s game, the Brewers\u2019 OPS in 14 May games was .556; the Brewers have had just three 14-game stretches that bad in the last 32 years. Also:<\/p>\n

Tonight\u2019s game, a showdown between the recently demoted Tobias Myers (who was down only three days and hadn\u2019t appeared in a game since his last major league start last weekend) and the Minnesota ace Pablo L\u00f3pez was a big deal for the Twins, who set a new franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings and moved their current winning streak \u2014 at 13 games after tonight \u2014 into second place on the franchise\u2019s all-time list. For the Brewers, it was just another demoralizing performance from a team that is quickly depriving its fanbase of any hope that they can recapture last season\u2019s magic.<\/p>\n

The struggles that led to Myers\u2019 demotion last week did not correct themselves after his three days in the minor leagues. On just the second batter of the game, Ryan Jeffers \u2014 who absolutely had Myers\u2019 number tonight \u2014 crushed an 0-1 fastball to left-center field for a long home run. In the Twins\u2019 second, Royce Lewis hit a 105.6-mph double down the left field line to start the inning, and the Twins got their second run on a two-out single by the nine-hole hitter, Christian V\u00e1zquez. Jeffers \u201cdoubled\u201d to lead off the third, a ball that Jake Bauers \u2014 not a natural left fielder \u2014 misplayed badly, and he scored after two more hits, both singles, by Brooks Lee and Ty France. Another run would have scored when Kody Clemens added a fourth straight hit, but Sal Frelick nailed Lee at home. Then, in the fourth, Trevor Larnach started a two-out rally with a single, which was followed by a Jeffers single \u2014 his third hit \u2014 and, one pitch after a visit from Chris Hook, an RBI knock by Lee.<\/p>\n

That pitch to Lee was Myers\u2019 last of the evening and, presumably, his last in the majors for some time. He gave up tons of hard contact and an almost unbelievable 11 hits in just 3 2\u20443 innings. The fact that the Twins scored only four runs on those 11 hits was a borderline miracle, and Frelick\u2019s outfield assist had a lot to do with that. I guess if you\u2019re looking for a silver lining, Myers didn\u2019t walk anyone, but good command isn\u2019t just not walking people; it also means not throwing fastballs down the middle.<\/p>\n

Of course, when the offense can\u2019t score, it doesn\u2019t really matter how badly your pitchers perform. The offense today got an early chance against L\u00f3pez, but they squandered it, and from that point on, they looked just as flat as they have all month.<\/p>\n

The exception to tonight\u2019s offensive woes was Brice Turang, who led off the Brewers\u2019 first with a ball that deflected off L\u00f3pez for an infield single. After a Jackson Chourio flyout, Turang stole second base, and he advanced to third on a(nother) Christian Yelich groundout. William Contreras drew a two-out walk, putting runners on the corners with two outs, but Sal Frelick grounded out meekly, and the Brewers failed to tie the game early.<\/p>\n

After that, they just kept falling further behind and made very little progress against L\u00f3pez. Other than a beautiful at-bat from Turang in the third inning, in which he battled for 10 pitches before knocking a solid single to center on the 11th. But, of course, Chourio flew out to shallow right, Yelich grounded out, and the Brewers got nothing. Through five innings, Turang\u2019s two singles and Contreras\u2019 first inning walk were the only baserunners the Brewers had.<\/p>\n

Myers leaving the game did not immediately change the Brewers\u2019 fortunes. Grant Anderson was the chosen pitcher for mop-up duty, and while he got Milwaukee out of the fourth inning with no further trouble, he allowed a solo homer to Clemens in the top of the fifth, and the Twins had the unusual accomplishment of having scored one run in each of the first five innings.<\/p>\n

The one-run-each-inning parade continued in the top of the sixth, helped along by more bad defense. Larnach blooped a ball into left field, and Bauers couldn\u2019t get to it, but he made things worse by trying to make a sliding catch and failing. That turned Larnach\u2019s bloop single into a bloop triple, and he scored two batters later when Lee hit a sac fly to right.<\/p>\n

Turang, the only guy doing anything for the Brewers tonight, led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk in front of, ostensibly, the heart of the order. To his credit, Chourio finally hit a pitch hard, but he hit it right at Lee for a 107-mph first out, and then Yelich struck out (he looks terrible right now), and Contreras grounded out.<\/p>\n

Rob Zastryzny made his 2025 debut in the top of the seventh \u2014 remember, he made nine pretty successful appearances with the Brewers last season before spending time in both the Cubs\u2019 and Yankees\u2019 systems (but didn\u2019t pitch in the majors for either) before the Brewers re-acquired him on Friday. Clemens knocked a leadoff single off of Zastryzny, but a strikeout, a fielder\u2019s choice, and another strikeout ended the Twins\u2019 streak of one-run innings at six.<\/p>\n

Old friend Justin Topa replaced L\u00f3pez for the seventh, and a hitter not named Turang finally got a hit, a one-out single from Rhys Hoskins. Bauers followed that with a walk, and Caleb Durbin was hit by the next pitch, and you could almost hear the creaking as the Brewers\u2019 offense tried to break the rust off and get into gear. Joey Ortiz was not going to be allowed to face Topa with the bases loaded and one out, so Isaac Collins came out of the dugout to pinch hit, but that didn\u2019t work as Collins popped out back to Topa, and then Turang fell back to earth as he grounded out and the Brewers got zero runs out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation.<\/p>\n

Zastryzny was back for the eighth and allowed only a single that got by Durbin at third base. The Twins sent Jorge Alcala to the hill for the bottom of the eighth, and he sat down Chourio, Yelich, and Eric Haase (who replaced Contreras defensively in the top of the inning) in order.<\/p>\n

Tyler Alexander came in to pitch the ninth for the Brewers, and he gave up a leadoff double to the recently acquired (and newly in the game) Jonah Bride. Bride was then erased, though, when Andruw Monasterio (another eighth-inning defensive replacement) threw to third on a ground ball to shortstop and cut down Bride for the first out. With Clemens at first, Lewis knocked a single into left. Harrison Bader followed with a ground ball to third that was almost a double play, but they didn\u2019t quite get him on the relay, which mattered, because DaShawn Keirsey Jr. followed with a bloop single into left field to score Clemens.<\/p>\n

The new Twins pitcher in the ninth was lefty Kody Funderburk. Daz Cameron pinch-hit and grounded out on the first pitch he saw, Hoskins struck out looking on a pitch that was pretty clearly outside, and Monasterio grounded out to second base.<\/p>\n

The 7-0 victory made 13 straight wins (the second-longest streak in team history) and 33 straight scoreless innings (the longest stretch in team history) for the Twins. For the Brewers, they were shut out for the fourth time in five games and for the sixth time in 15 games in May.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s not a whole lot else to say. The Brewers managed only three hits, all singles, and the only remotely bright spots were Turang (2-for-3 with a walk) and the debut of Zastryzny, who pitched two innings and was the only Brewer pitcher not to allow a run today (though Joel Payamps\u2019 run should somehow get charged to Jake Bauers).<\/p>\n

Milwaukee will try to salvage a game on Sunday afternoon at 1:10 p.m. The Twins have a TBD listed, but the Brewers will turn to Freddy Peralta.<\/p>\n

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