Brewers on verge of elimination after 4-3 loss to Marlins in 12 innings

Oct 2, 2022 - 10:32 PM

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Box Score

The Brewers were lined up for a good chance to push for a postseason spot. They had the Marlins and Diamondbacks, two sub-.500 teams, at home to finish the season. The Phillies were dropping games to give the Brewers a chance. However, the Brewers just didn’t take advantage.

Early in the game, this was a pitcher’s duel. Freddy Peralta started for the Brewers and was excellent. He pitched four scoreless innings with just two hits allowed and four strikeouts. However, Pablo López of the Marlins was even better. He pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and three walks while striking out seven.

The Brewers first chance to get on the board came in the fifth. Kolten Wong led off with a single, but got caught trying to steal and was tagged out. Andrew McCutchen followed that up with a single, and two batters lated Omar Narvaez drew a walk. Garrett Mitchell couldn’t bring them in as he struck out to end the inning.

The Brewers went to their bullpen for the fifth and got a scoreless inning from Hoby Milner. He came back out for the sixth and got a strikeout before allowing a single, and Justin Topa came in. Topa finished the inning without issue, and came back out for the seventh. That didn’t work out as Avisail Garcia doubled to lead off the inning. The next batter, Bryan De La Cruz, hit a ground ball right at Justin Topa, who deflected it off of his foot. Narvaez tried to make a play but could not, and runners were at first and third. Topa had to leave the game after that, and was replaced by Taylor Rogers.

The Marlins capitalized from there, with a single from Peyton Burdick and a sacrifice fly from Jacob Stallings each putting a run on the board. Another single from Jordan Groshans and a walk to Joey Wendle loaded the bases. The Brewers brought in Matt Bush from there, and he got Charles Leblanc to strike out with the bases loaded. However, the Marlins had a 2-0 lead.

After a scoreless eighth from Matt Bush, the Brewers finally broke through with Pablo López out of the game. Richard Bieler came on in relief, and the Brewers countered immediately with pinch-hitters Luis Urias and Tyrone Taylor. Both moves succeeded, with Urias hitting a single and Taylor a double. The Brewers tried another pinch hitter with Mike Brosseau, but he struck out to leave runners at the corners. Christian Yelich was up next, and he grounded out to first on the first pitch. That was enough to score a run, though, and the Brewers were on the board at 2-1. Taylor made it to third as well, but Willy Adames struck out against reliever Dylan Floro to end the inning.

Brad Boxberger took the ninth and pitched a scoreless inning to keep the Brewers down a run. With the Brewers needing a run in the ninth to stay alive, the offense came through. Hunter Renfroe hit a one-out double, and Kolten Wong brought him in with a single to tie the game at 2-2. The Marlins intentionally walked Andrew McCutchen to put runners at first and second, but Urias grounded into a double play to end the inning and send the game into extra innings.

Brent Suter was first into the game in the tenth inning, with Jordan Groshans starting at second base. Suter started the inning a line out from Miguel Rojas, but Joey Wendle singled to left and Groshans scored, putting the Marlins back up 3-2. Suter escaped the inning with no further damage, but the Brewers needed a run again to stay alive.

With the Brewers needing a run and Urias starting at second, the Brewers tried to go small ball. Tyrone Taylor started out the inning by drawing a walk, and Victor Caratini moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt. Christian Yelich hit a ground ball to short, and Urias tried to score on it. However, he was easily out at the plate, and the Brewers were down to their last out. Willy Adames kept the Brewers alive though, hitting a soft single to left field to score Taylor and tie the game at 3-3 again. Rowdy Tellez couldn’t get another run in, and the game went to the 11th inning.

Suter remained in the game for the 11th inning. He allowed a walk to Avisail Garcia to put two runners on base with no outs, but got a ground ball from Bryan De La Cruz that turned into a double play. JJ Bleday then popped out to give the Brewers a needed scoreless inning and gave them a chance to win it in the 11th.

The Brewers went back to small ball in the 11th. Kolten Wong pinch ran for Tellez as the runner to start the inning. Hunter Renfroe bunted on the first pitch he saw from reliever Huascar Brazoban, and it was a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Hiura to third. The Marlins chose to intentionally walk Kolten Wong to set up a double play. McCutchen was up next, and battled to work a walk and load the bases with one out. Urias battled next, working the count full but struck out for the second out of the inning. Tyrone Taylor came up with a chance to win it, but he hit a ground ball to third that was an easy out to end the inning and send the game to the 12th inning.

Trevor Gott came in for the 12th inning. JJ Bleday started at second for the Marlins. Gott started well, getting a pop out from Stallings and ground out from Groshans for the first two outs of the inning, though Bleday was able to move up to third. However, it went down from there. Rojas singled to bring in Bleday and give the Marlins a 4-3 lead. Wendle followed that with another single and the Marlins had two runners on with two outs. Jon Berti was up next and worked the count full, but Gott was able to strike him out to keep the Brewers in a one-run deficit.

The Brewers needed another run in the 12th, with Tyrone Taylor at second and the Marlins bringing in Tanner Scott in relief. Caratini led off the inning and struck out. Yelich was up next, and worked his way to a walk. Adames had a good swing on the first pitch he saw from Scott, but it wasn’t quite far enough to leave the park and was an easy fly out. Hiura was up with two outs to try and tie the game, but struck out to end it and put the Brewers chances at a postseason appearance almost out of reach.

With the loss, the Brewers elimination number is down to one. They are two games behind the Phillies with three to play, and the Phillies have the tiebreaker. The loss also guarantees the Padres a Wild Card spot. While the Brewers are still alive, it’s down to one scenario for them. They must sweep the Diamondbacks and have the Astros sweep the Phillies to make it to the postseason.

Brandon Woodruff is on the mound tomorrow to try to extend this season, facing Tommy Henry of the Diamondbacks. First pitch is at 6:40 PM.