The Brewers took a hit before the first pitch even mattered, with Sal Frelick landing on the IL, Brandon Woodruff headed for surgery and Brice Turang scratched. None of it stopped Milwaukee from staying on script. The Brewers kept grinding and walked out with an 8-6 win over the Miami Marlins.
Shane Drohan was at it again, and this one might have been his sharpest outing yet. He finished six innings for the third straight start and piled up a career-best nine strikeouts. Drohan opened with three punchouts in the first and later struck out the side in the fifth.
The Marlins did make him sweat in the second. They pieced together a rally that looked a lot like a Brewers inning: a double, two bunt singles, a hard-hit single, a fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly added up to three runs.
Milwaukee answered right away. Garrett Mitchell singled to start the bottom of the second and came around on a sacrifice fly from Braden Shewmake. Then in the third, Jackson Chourio walked, stole second and scored when William Contreras ripped a double off the top of the wall.
That steal was part of a big running night for Milwaukee. The Brewers swiped seven bags in all.
“I’m glad to be on this side of it because when I was in Houston, we were worried about that, cause you run wild over here. High percentage, pick good times to run, and it puts a lot of pressure on defenses.
So being on this side, it’s a lot more fun.” Braden Shewmake said.
Chourio finished with two steals and reached 10 on the season. Shewmake, Mitchell, Joey Ortiz and Christian Yelich also stole bases, and Luis Lara added the first steal of his young career. Lara had 24 stolen bases for Triple-A Nashville this year and had 40+ each of the past two seasons.
Milwaukee still trailed by one going into the sixth, but that changed fast. Shewmake opened the inning with a 110.4 MPH double to right, Ortiz and Yelich followed with walks, and Chourio punched a single to center to put the Brewers in front.
A few batters later, Mitchell came through again with a hustle double that drove in two more, pushing the lead to 6-3.
The Brewers added what looked like needed cushion in the seventh. Yelich went the other way for a double that brought home two runs and made it 8-3.
That extra breathing room ended up mattering. Pat Murphy tried to stretch Craig Yoho for a second inning to avoid dipping deeper into the bullpen, but Yoho put two runners on and then served up a three-run homer to Griffin Conine, cutting the lead to two.
“You want to preserve somebody that hasn’t pitched yet. You know Yoho’s down tomorrow anyways, right?
Regardless. One inning today, eight pitches, and he’s going good.
He’s not pitching tomorrow anyways, so why use another guy?” Pat Murphy said.
Murphy had to go to Megill after that, and Megill retired the three batters he faced to close out the 8-6 win.
In Other News...
Brewers Farm System Shuffle Suddenly Puts Nashville And Biloxi In Focus
The Brewers kept their farm system moving Friday, with Nashville and Biloxi doing a lot of the heavy lifting in the latest round of roster churn. Milwaukee optioned left-hander Jared Koenig to the Sounds, Nashville moved on from shortstop Eddys Leonard, and Cameron Wagoner and Jacob Hurtubise were both sent to Nashville from Biloxi, a set of moves that underscores how active the organization has been at the affiliate level.
It came against the backdrop of a tough night for Nashville, which dropped a game to Norfolk after the Tides rallied late. The decisive swing included a go-ahead triple in the seventh and a balk that broke a 2-2 tie, leaving the Sounds to sort through both the result on the field and the fresh additions and departures around the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Suddenly Forced Into Another Brutal Lineup Shakeup Before First Pitch
The Brewers were already heading into their matchup with the Marlins juggling a fresh set of roster moves, with Sal Frelick landing on the injured list because of a shoulder injury and Blake Perkins coming back up from Triple-A. Milwaukee is also turning to Shane Drohan on the mound against Miamis Max Meyer, but the bigger immediate issue has been how quickly the lineup has had to be reshuffled around the injuries and absences piling up before first pitch.
That shuffle got even more complicated when Brice Turang was scratched from the lineup because of right foot soreness, forcing the Brewers to adjust again on short notice. Luis Lara is in right field, Braden Shewmake is at second base and Joey Ortiz is at third, leaving Milwaukee to piece together a different look yet again as it tries to keep pace in a game that already arrived with plenty of uncertainty. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Face A Massive Deadline Question About One Top Prospect
Luis Pena has kept moving in High-A Wisconsin, and the Brewers top shortstop prospect is still doing enough on the field to remind people why he remains one of the organizations most interesting young players. MLB Pipeline has him ranked as baseballs No. 18 prospect, and his season line in Wisconsin has only reinforced the idea that there is real value here, even with the usual volatility that comes with a player still climbing the ladder.
For Milwaukee, the intrigue is less about what Pena is right now than what he could become in the kind of deadline market that always forces hard choices. The Brewers are deep enough at shortstop to at least entertain moving a premium talent if the return fits a bigger need, and pitching tends to be the sort of need that can reshape a front offices thinking. Penas production has kept him in the conversation, but the bigger question is how the Brewers weigh that upside against the pressure to address the roster elsewhere when the time comes. [Read more 🡒]