Milwaukee Brewers starter Shane Drohan couldn’t hold a 4-0 lead against the Minnesota Twins on Friday, and two runs against newly acquired reliever Antonio Senzatela proved to be the difference in an 8-6 Brewers loss at American Family Field.
Jackson Chourio homered for the third time in four games, and the Brewers took advantage of Twins miscues to stay in the game, but Minnesota’s bullpen kept Milwaukee’s bats quiet in the final innings.
Drohan managed to survive five innings, but it was his worst start as a member of the Brewers, yielding six runs, nine hits, four walks and two homers with four strikeouts.
Kaelen Culpepper, the Twins’ No. 2 prospect recalled earlier in the day to make his Major League debut, smashed one of the homers for his first big-league hit. The Twins scored two runs apiece in four straight innings from the second through the sixth to build a 6-4 lead, then rebuild it to 8-6 after Milwaukee clawed back.
BOX SCORE: Twins 8, Brewers 6
Senzatela, working for the third time in four days since he was acquired from the Colorado Rockies, retired the first two batters of the sixth but then allowed three straight hits, including a go-ahead double by Royce Lewis and Josh Bell’s fourth hit of the game, an RBI single.
Milwaukee (72-44) made its share of hard contact against Twins starter Zebby Matthews and saved its best for Minnesota defensive mistakes. After Lewis flubbed a routine grounder that would have ended the second inning, allowing a run to score, Brice Turang added a two-run double that made it 4-0.
After the Twins scored the next six runs, Jake Bauers hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth to score David Hamilton, who had reached on a single that the shortstop Culpepper couldn’t handle, and made it 7-6. With two outs, Garrett Mitchell plated the tying run by beating out a throw from Culpepper across the diamond.
But Minnesota came back in the sixth against Senzatela to reclaim the lead for good, and the Brewers finished 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position on the night. Bry
Brewers right fielder Luis Lara had two singles but struck out with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh. Chourio grounded into a double play in the eighth with two runners on and one out.
Brewers reliever Bryse Wilson worked the final three innings of relief, allowing just one baserunner on a single.
Here’s how the game unfolded:
Big-time outing from Bryse Wilson in relief
You can’t ask for much more out of long reliever Bryse Wilson, who worked three innings tonight and allowed just one baserunner on a single. Wilson has now worked 13⅔ innings for the Brewers this year and has zero walks. That saves some arms and gives the Brewers one last chance to tie or win in the ninth.
Another opportunity lost in the eighth for the Brewers
The Brewers had two runners on with one out and their hottest batter at the plate, but Jackson Chourio grounded into a double play, and the Twins have an 8-6 lead heading into the ninth. After all that offense, things have gone quiet at the wrong time for the Brewers.
Brewers load the bases with two outs in the seventh but can’t cash in
Luis Lara struck out with the bases loaded against newly acquired Twins reliever Jeff Hoffman in the seventh, and the Twins held on to their 8-6 lead. Hoffman, who walked Garrett Mitchell and clipped Christian Yelich with a low inside pitch, needed just three pitches to dismiss Lara.
We head to the eighth.
Bryse Wilson finally gives the Brewers a quiet inning
After four straight innings in which the Twins scored two runs apiece, Bryse Wilson authored the first 1-2-3 inning of the night for Milwaukee in the seventh.
Brewers and Twins lose second and final ABS challenge on same at-bat
Home-plate umpire Brian Walsh will be the final arbiter on balls and strikes the rest of the night after the Twins and Brewers both managed to lose their final challenge on consecutive pitches.
With David Hamilton batting and a runner on second base, Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers challenged what he thought was strike three; it was not. One pitch later, Hamilton challenged the call of strike 3; it was safely in the zone. The inning ended for Milwaukee when Brice Turang was blown away by new Twins reliever A.J. Minter on three pitches.
It’s still 8-6, Twins, as we head to the seventh in a chaotic game.
The Twins have reclaimed the lead yet again with a pair of two-out runs
You didn’t think the offense was done, did you?
Antonio Senzatela opened the inning well with the groundout and strikeout, but Ryan Jeffers belted a two-out double, and Royce Lewis tucked a liner inside the third base line for his own double and an RBI to give his team a 7-6 lead. Then, Josh Bell smoked a single that made it 8-6.
The Twins have scored two runs in four straight innings. It’s the first runs Senzatela has allowed with the Brewers.
Brewers also load bases with nobody out and tie game with baserunning
Just like the Twins did in the top of the fifth, the Brewers loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom half, getting two singles and a walk to set the stage for Jake Bauers. He hit a pair of long drives to left, one foul and one just short of the warning track, resulting in a sacrifice fly that pulled the Brewers within 6-5.
After a William Contreras fly out (where both runners moved up in a bit of a daring maneuver), Garrett Mitchell hit a chopper to Culpepper at short, who threw late for the speed demon Mitchell, permitting another run to score and tie the game at 6-6. Christian Yelich struck out, but the damage was done, and it’s 6-6 with Antonio Senzatela checking in for the Brewers.
We haven’t seen a wild offensive game like this in a while.
It’s been an interesting night for Kaelen Culpepper, who has his first big-league hit (a homer) but also had two defensive misplays (he couldn’t handle what was ruled a single by David Hamilton earlier in the fifth) and grounded into a double play in a key spot.
Twins keep hammering away at Shane Drohan and take the lead
The Twins have taken the lead, and it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better.
After some slick defense by the Twins to end the fourth, the Minnesota bats got back to work against Drohan, with two well-struck singles to open the frame and then a bunt single that rolled between a charging Jake Bauers and Drohan for a base hit to load the bases with nobody out.
Luke Keaschall followed with a go-ahead single, and though Kaelen Culpepper grounded into a double play, it brought home another run to make it 6-4.
Drohan has served up nine hits and allowed two runs in three straight innings, his worst start as a Brewer.
Victor Caratini nearly drove in another, but Garrett Mitchell ran down a screamer to center to finally end the fifth.
Minnesota ties the game, and Cooper Pratt throw keeps it from being worse
The 4-0 lead is now completely gone after Drohan allowed a walk to Victor Caratini, a bunt single to Ryan Kreidler and a booming double by Austin Martin to drive in the tying run in the fourth.
The silver lining: An excellent relay from Cooper Pratt home to catch Ryan Kreidler at the plate, preventing the Twins from taking the lead on the same play. Ryan Jeffers then popped out to end the frame, but the game is tied.
Twins right back in the ballgame and Culpepper has homer for first Major League hit
The Twins aren’t going quietly. It’s now 4-3 in the fourth inning.
In the third, Shane Drohan retired Royce Lewis on a long fly to left that Jackson Chourio caught, then served up a two-run homer one batter later to Josh Bell, making it 4-2.
After the Brewers went 1-2-3 in the third, Kaelen Culpepper sent a solo shot out to left center for his first big-league hit, a home run that made it 4-3. That’s a fun moment for the Twins and their fans, but the Brewers’ promising 4-0 lead is suddenly gone.
Twins second baseman Royce Lewis makes critical error and Brewers keep tacking on
Royce Lewis had an inning-ending slow roller headed his way at second base off the bat of David Hamilton, but the ball just kept rolling under his glove, and that turned into a nightmare for the Twins.
The play itself allowed Christian Yelich to motor around with the Brewers’ second run of the game, and Brice Turang followed with a smoked two-run double into the right-field corner, making it 4-0 still in the second inning.
The Brewers always seem to burn teams that make defensive miscues.
Twins No. 2 prospect Kaelen Culpepper makes Major League debut
Kaelen Culpepper, called up earlier today and the No. 2 prospect in the Twins organization, gets his first big-league at-bat in the second after another leadoff walk by Shane Drohan. The No. 29 overall MLB prospect according to Pipeline will have better results; he popped out to first baseman Jake Bauers in foul territory.
White-hot Jackson Chourio homers for third time in four days
Jackson Chourio is on a tear right now. For the second straight day and third time in four days, the outfielder sent a ball on a long ride, a 389-foot blast to dead center against Twins starter Zebby Matthews. And the Brewers have a 1-0 lead in the opening inning.
Chourio went July 4 to Aug. 4 with zero homers and now has three in four days.
Shane Drohan works around trouble for scoreless first
Shane Drohan walked the leadoff batter (though two balls during the at-bat appear to be in the zone), Austin Martin, who stole second and probably could have gone to third when the throw from William Contreras sailed into the outfield. But Drohan struck out Ryan Jeffers and Royce Lewis before getting a long fly out from Kody Clemens to left.
Brice Turang nearly made a spectacular play well across the bag at second base to retire Josh Bell, and though Bell beat it out for a single, the run didn’t score.
We’re off on a Friday night in Milwaukee, with the City Connect Wisco jerseys on display.
What channel is the Brewers game on?
Brewers.TV
What is the Brewers record?
72-43
Brewers lineup
Shane Drohan, left-handed pitcher
Twins lineup
Zebby Matthews, right-handed pitcher
Brewers probable pitchers and schedule
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Drohan struggles as Brewers lose early lead, fall 8-6 to Twins
Reporting by Curt Hogg and JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Curt Hogg and JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
