The Brewers’ post-All-Star break surge hit a hard stop Tuesday night, and the Mets made sure it stayed that way.
Milwaukee managed just three hits in a 4-0 loss, with Mets rookie starter Zac Thornton keeping the bats quiet and the New York offense cashing in on a pair of big swings. The Brewers never found much rhythm at the plate, and once the Mets grabbed the lead, they kept adding to it.
Brandon Sproat had a rough night against his old team in his first look at them. He needed 28 pitches just to get through the first inning, then gave up a one-out homer to Jared Young in the second to put the Mets ahead 1-0. Sproat was under pressure all night, and the four walks he issued kept the bases crowded.
The decisive blow came in the fifth. With two outs, Sproat walked Bo Bichette on his 99th pitch of the night, and Pat Murphy went to the bullpen. Sproat was upset with himself after that exit, and the Mets quickly made the change matter.
Francisco Lindor then sneaked a ball off the glove of a diving Brice Turang for a double, and Carson Benge followed with a two-run double through the right side to stretch the lead to 3-0.
Milwaukee’s best chance to get back in it came early and then again in the sixth, but nothing stuck. Jackson Chourio singled to start the first, William Contreras walked, and the Brewers had two on with one out. Andrew Vaughn grounded into a 1-4-3 double play, and Thornton settled in from there, retiring 12 straight.
In the sixth, singles by Cooper Pratt and Joey Ortiz put two runners on with nobody out and the top of the order coming up. But Chourio struck out, then a baserunning mistake on a passed ball led to Pratt being thrown out trying to reach third during Turang’s at-bat. Turang did drive one to the warning track, but it wasn’t enough to keep the inning alive.
The Brewers couldn’t do anything against the Mets bullpen after that and finished with their first shutout loss since June 3.
Bryse Wilson covered four innings in relief to help protect the rest of the bullpen, but he still gave up seven hits, plenty of traffic, and a run on a 451-foot blast by Luis Robert Jr.
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