Tag: Milwaukee Brewers

Photo credit: @Athletics

By: Lewis Rubman

Milwaukee: 3-7-0 (10 LOB)

Oakland: 5-6-0 (6 LOB)

OAKLAND — The A’s sent Homer Bailey, who was 2-1, 8.59 ERA for them since being traded to the team from Kansas City on July 14, to the mound this afternoon. In his three Oakland starts, Bailey has been somewhat like the little girl with the little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. When he was good, he threw six innings of two-run, seven-hit ball against Seattle and 6 2/3 innings of three-run, seven-hit ball against Texas. One of those runs was charged to him after Ryan Buchter allowed a runner who had tripled off Bailey to score on a double. In between those starts, Bailey surrendered nine runs on eight hits in two horrendous innings against Houston. All of the runs he allowed in that game were earned.

Opposing him for the Brewers in today’s blearly eyed contest was Chase Anderson (5-2, 3.89 ERA), a 6’1″, 200 pound right handed hurler in his sixth year in the majors and whose current ERA exactly matches his lifetime figure. This was his 17th start of the season, which he has supplemented with five relief appearances. He features a four-seam fastball in the low to mid 90s and so far this campaign has managed to achieve an average of 8.69 strikeouts and 2.93 walks per nine innings. He throws some sort of fastball about half the time, although this figure has been decreasing steadily over his career.

Bailey threw nothing but strikes to the first two hitters he faced, and he retired both of them. But then he walked Keston Hiura on a 3-1 count, and cleanup hitter Mike Moustakas dropped a perfect bunt to third against the shift for a single that put Hiura in scoring position at second, from which he scored on Ryan Braun’s single to center. For the second straight game, Oakland was down a run before coming to bat.

Bailey pitched out of a jam in the third. With one down in the frame, Jurickson Profar committed a throwing error that enabled Christian Yellich to reach first safely. He advanced to third on Hiura’s single to center, Hiura taking second on the throw. The A’s starter rose to the occasion by getting Moustakas to pop out to Chapman and striking out Braun.

Chad Pinder led off the bottom half of the inning with a resounding round tripper off a 93 miles per hour four seam fast ball from Anderson.

The score remained tied for a very short time. A single by Eric Thames led off the fourth. That hit was followed by a walk to Travis Shaw. Orlando Arcia’s liner, knocked down by Bailey and thrown to Olson, retired the batter but moved the runners up to second and third. Trent Greshman, playing in his first major league game, got his first RBI with a sacrifice fly to Grossman in left center, unknotting the score.

Bailey left the game after thowing 101 pitches, 61 of them strikes, over six innings. He surrendered two runs, both earned, on five hits and three walks, while notching five strikeouts. He was good, although not very, very good.

Yellich extended his consecutive game hitting streak to 19 with a double off Bailey’s replacement, Jake Diekman, with a runner on first and no outs in the top of the seventh. The blast hit the right field scoreboard and tied Yellich for longest streak in the league. It was a weird inning for Diekman. He hit Hiura with a pitch to load the bases after Yellich’s two bagger had sent Grandal to third. Moustakas grounded sharply to Olson, who threw home for the force out. It took Diekman only three pitches to strike Ryan Braun out swinging on a wild pitch that enabled Yellich to sore from third, upping the Brewers’ advantage to 3-1. Diekman then needed only three more pitches to log another swinging K, this one against Thames to close out the inning.

Like Bailey, Anderson was lifted after six innings. He allowed one run, earned, on two hits, three walks, and a hit batter. He threw 92 pitches. 52 of them were strikes.

Anderson’s replacement in the home seventh, Junior Guerra, was as erratic as Diekman hd been. He let the A’s close the gap to one run by giving up a lead-off single to Canha, who moved up a base on a walk to Nick Martini, hitting for Pinder, after Profar had flown out at the center field fence. Beau Taylor’s ground out, first to the pitcher covering, moved each runner up a base, and Guerra’s wild pitch to Semien had the same effect, this time scoring Franklin Barreto, who was pinch running for Pinder and remained in the game at second, Profar moving to the outfield. Milwaukee now was up, 3-2.

Blake Treinen continued his comeback by setting down Milwaukee with one hit in the top of the eighth in relief of Diekman.

Josh Hader replaced the unfortunate Guerra, whose line was one each for innings pitched, runs, earned runs, walks, and hit batters. His pitch count was 25.

Josh Hader came in to pitch the eighth, his third relief apearance in as many days. The Brewers’ closer walked Grossman, the first man he faced. Then Chapman’s bat came alive as the A’s stellar third sacker rocketed a two run homer to straight away center field to give Oakland a 4-3 lead. Hader was pulled after Olson grounded out to first, unassisted. The reader won’t need any assistance from me to figure out Hader’s pitching line. He threw 16 pitches to earn it.

The resurgent Khris Davis greeted Hader’s replacement, Jay Jackson, with a single to center. Canha advanced the A’s DH to third with a line single to right. Canha then stole his second base of the game and advanced to third while Davis scored on Profar’s sacrifice fly to right.

Melvin called on Liam Hendricks to defend the A’s new found two run lead and in the process earn his tenth save of the season, which he had been unable to do Tuesday night. Today, he set down the side in order, striking out Yellich and Hiura and getting Moustakas to fly out to center for the game ending out.

Treinen got the win; he’s now 6-3. Hader was the losing pitcher; he’s now 1-5.

The A’s have a rare Friday off and will return to the Coliseum at 6:07 pm Saturday evening to face the Cardinals in another interleague battle. The scheduled starters are Mike Fiers (9-3, 3.54 ERA) for Oakland and the geographically named Dakota Hudson (10-5, 3.88 ERA) for St. Louis.

When the game ended at 3:50 pm, the A’s trailed Houston by 7 1/2 games for the division lead. They’re in a dead heat with Tampa Bay for the second wild card berth, both teams 2 1/2 games behind Cleveland.

Photo credit: @Brewers

By Lewis Rubman

Milwaukee: 4 | 9 | 1 | 7 LOB

Oakland: 2 | 7  | 1 | 8 LOB

OAKLAND — Milwaukee’s newly acquired right-hander Jordan Lyles brought an unimpressive 5-7, 5.36 ERA record to the mound at the Coliseum tonight. Even though those dismal numbers, compiled while he still was toiling for Pittsburgh, were in line with his lifetime mark of 36-59, 5.29 ERA, they don’t give an idea of how badly he’d been struggling before he was dealt to the Brewers. He had gone 0-5, 10.00 ERA in his last five contests and 4-7, 6.06 ERA in his last 15. He features a slightly below average four-seam fast ball and a knuckle curve, but he has a few other pitches in his repertory. He threw a lot of classical curve balls tonight.

Oakland countered with Brett Anderson (9-8, 4.05 ERA), who recently has pitched effectively for the first four innings or so, but has run into trouble after that.

He didn’t start effectively tonight, allowing lead-off hitter Lorenzo Cain his eighth home run of the season, a line drive to left that came on the second pitch of the game. In spite of a one out single to right by Ryan Braun, the A’s lefty avoided further damage by inducing clean-up batter Yasmani Grandal to bounce into a 4-6-3 double play.

Anderson allowed another run in the third frame, giving up a single to Orlando Arcia, followed by Christian Yellich’s double to right, which extended the Brewers’ left fielder’s hitting streak to 18 consecutive games and drove in his teammate.

The A’s got one run back in their half of the inning when Marcus Semien led off with a double, and two batters later, Matt Chapman, who has been struggling at the plate, drove him in with a sac fly to right.

But Anderson coughed up that run in the top of the fourth. Yasmani Grandal led off with a single to left, and Keston Hiura drove him in with a double to deep left center. Once again, Anderson snuffed out the rally, but by now, the A’s were trailing 3-1.

Oakland came close to narrowing the gap in the bottom of the fifth, and Semien again was instrumental. He drew a two-out walk and advanced to third when Lyle’s pick off attempt ended up deep in the right field bullpen. But Martini’s fly to right closed out the frame.

A leaping grab of Grandal’s line drive to the right field score board by Robbie Grossman provided excitement in the top of the sixth, but his diving stab at Mike Moustakas’ sinking liner to right center got past him for a double. Anderson got out of the resulting jam by retiring Manny Piña on a fly to Canha in center.

Lyles didn’t come out for the bottom of the sixth. His line for five innings’ work was 94 pitches, 64 of which were strikes, one run earned, three hits, two walks, and four bases on balls. His replacement, Matt Albers, surrendered a one out double to Olson before getting Davis on a hard hit line drive to Cain in center and a full count strike out of Mark Canha.

Albers had two strikeouts to go with the one hit he allowed in his inning of work before giving way to Jeremy Jeffress, who started the home half of the seventh for the Brewers. With one out, Chris Herrmann drove a slicing liner into the left field corner for a two bagger. Jurickson Profar pinch hit for Barreto and spanked a leg double to right center to narrow the visitors’ lead to one run at 3-2. But Semien struck out, and Nick Martini flied out to left to end the comeback.

After seven innings of work, in which he gave up three runs, all earned, on eight hits, one a home run, struck out three, and didn’t walk anyone, Anderson’s task was completed. He had thrown 95 pitches, 64 of them strikes, a record almost identical to Lyles’, and was replaced on the mound by Lou Trivino, still struggling, in spite of his good performance last Sunday against Texas, to regain the dominance he showed last season.

Dominant he wasn’t, giving up a double to Braun and walks to Hiura and Mustakas before unloading a wild pitch to Manny Piña that let in Ben Gamel, running for Braun, from third, and then refilling the bases by walking Piña. Trivino gave way to Wei-Chung Wang, off of whom Eric Thames launched a deep fly that Canha tracked down spectacularly on the warning track in right center field.

Junior Guerra, who entered the fray to start the bottom of the eighth, allowed only a walk to Olson.

Joakim Soria set Milwaukee down 1, 2, 3 in the ninth.

Josh Hader, last night’s losing pitcher, relieved Guerra for the ninth inning, hoping to redeem himself. He did, allowing only a single to Profar.

Lyles got the win. He’s now 6-7 with an ERA of 5.15. Anderson was tagged with the loss. His record stands at 9-7, 4.04 ERA. Hader was credited with his 24th save.

Before the game, the Athletics acquired right handed pitcher Tanner Roak from Cincinnati in exchange for outfielder Jameson Hannah, who had been with Stockton, and an undisclosed amount of cash. They also designated pitcher Andrew Triggs for assignment and placed Ramón Laureano and Josh Phegley on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to July 29. The team recalled Nick Martini and Beau Taylor from Las Vegas to replace them and out-righted pitcher Brian Schlitter to the Aviators.

The Oakland bullpen continues to give reason for concern, although Blake Treinan’s performance last night was encouraging. Also troubling is Matt Chapman’s current slump at the plate. He now is two for 27, including 12 strikeouts, in his last seven games. His fielding, however, remains brilliant. Losing speedy, hard throwing, and hard hitting Laureano for at least 10 days to what is called a right lower leg stress reaction, comes at a particularly unfortunate time.

The A’s now have a won-lost record of 61-48, eight games behind Houston for the division lead. They are a half a game behind Tampa Bay for the second wild card spot and 2 1/2 games behind Cleveland for the first wild card berth.

Right-handers Chase Anderson (5-2, 3.89 ERA) and Homer Bailey (9-7, 3.53 ERA overall and 2-1, 8.59 ERA for Oakland) will be on the mound for the Brewers and A’s, respectively, tomorrow afternoon. That’s when the dog days of August begin. By month’s end, we should have a better fix on who the top dog will be.