The Milwaukee Brewers hit the official midpoint of the season on Sunday afternoon, June 28 in highly frustrating fashion.
Joel Kuhnel surrendered three runs with two outs in the top of the 10th inning and the offense went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position en route to a bitterly disappointing 4-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs at American Family Field on Sunday afternoon, July 28.
Gary Sánchez was the hero early with a solo home run that stood through nine innings and then the goat late as he grounded into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th.
Wasted in the loss was a second straight strong start by Brandon Woodruff, who threw 5 ⅔ shutout innings and struck out six.
Despite the loss, Milwaukee finishes the first half with 50 wins – most in franchise history.
Offense comes alive in the bottom of the 10th
Facing Ethan Roberts, Christian Yelich singled in Joey Ortiz to start the bottom of the 10th to make it a 4-2 game.
Jackson Chourio then drew a walk and Brice Turang singled against the drawn-in infield to load the bases with nobody out.
Garrett Mitchell, pinch-hitting against left-hander Jordan Wicks, drew a five-pitch walk to force in a run and make it 5-3.
Jake Bauers fouled out, then Sánchez pulled a ground ball to the left side for an easy 5-4-3, game-ending double play.
An ugly 10th inning
Kuhnel was handed the 10th and immediately was under pressure as an opening groundout put the go-ahead runner at third base.
Kuhnel recovered by striking out Dansby Swanson and the Brewers elected to put Pete Crow-Armstrong on only for Kuhnel to hit Alex Bregman to load the bases.
Michael Busch followed up by walking on four pitches to force in the go-ahead run, then Seiya Suzuki lined a two-run single to left to up the deficit to 4-1.
Kuhnel (1-3) threw 11 consecutive balls and 12 in 13 pitches in the blowup inning.
Bullpen steps up late
Abner Uribe threw a 1-2-3 eighth to finish his day with 1 ⅔ scoreless innings, his lengthiest outing in a regular-season game since last July 12.
After the offense failed to capitalize on another opportunity in the bottom of the frame, stranding Turang at third with two outs, Trevor Megill struck out three in the ninth while working around a two-out Nico Hoerner single to exhaust Milwaukee of its top relief options.
The Brewers offense again put a little something together in the bottom of the ninth with a one-out walk and a single, but Cooper Pratt and Ortiz both struck out to make it 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and eight runners stranded on the day.
An ugly seventh for Aaron Ashby
After Suzuki popped out to open the seventh, Aaron Ashby walked Ian Happ. One pitch later, Hoerner lined a single to center to leave the Cubs with runners on first and third.
With Matt Shaw pinch-hitting, Ashby spiked his first offering about five feet in front of the plate for a wild pitch, allowing Happ to score and tie the proceedings at 1-1.
Later in the at-bat, Ashby balked with Hoerner dancing far off second base, leaving the go-ahead run only 90 feet away with just one out.
At that point Uribe got the call and he quickly set about shutting down the Chicago comeback attempt, first with a strikeout of pinch-hitter Pedro Ramírez and then a flyout by Dansby Swanson.
Another terrific start by Brandon Woodruff
After getting Swanson to line out to center to begin the sixth, Woodruff got into a protracted nine-pitch battle with Pete Crow-Armstrong before finally losing him on a walk.
With Alex Bregman up, Crow-Armstrong stole second on a bang-bang play and then advanced to third on a groundout by Bregman that Pratt nearly botched but hung with to complete the play.
Woodruff was pulled at that point for Ashby, and he made quick work of Busch with a five-pitch strikeout to keep it a 1-0 game.
Since returning from the injured list on June 22, Woodruff has thrown 11 ⅔ scoreless innings in his two starts with two hits and two walks allowed while striking out 16 to lower his season ERA to 2.59.
Some good, some bad in the early going
Following the home run, the Brewers applied pressure in both the third and fourth innings but failed to capitalize with David Hamilton and Yelich both singling with one out and then Chourio and Turang striking out and then Andrew Vaughn tripling to start the fourth only to ultimately be stranded.
Woodruff, however, was once again on his game as aside from the Cubs putting together a double and a walk in the third and not cashing in he faced the minimum with six strikeouts.
An early homer for the Brewers
Rolison had faced the minimum through five batters with Gary Sánchez due up.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell was on the verge of going to right-hander Bryse Wilson but decided against it and paid the price when Sánchez turned on a fastball on the inner half and yanked it down the left-field line for a 415-foot homer and a 1-0 Milwaukee lead.
It was the eighth longball of the season for Sánchez.
What time is the Brewers game today?
Time: 1:10 p.m. CT.
What channel is the Brewers game on?
Brewers.TV.
What is the Brewers’ record?
50-31, first place in the NL Central.
Brewers lineup
Cubs lineup
Brewers probable pitchers and schedule
Brewers vs. Reds, June 29, 6:40 p.m.: Milwaukee LHP Robert Gasser (1-3, 4.50) vs. Cincinnati LHP Nick Lodolo (2-2, 5.59). TV – Brewers.TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers vs. Reds, June 30, 6:40 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Brandon Sproat (2-4, 5.43) vs. Cincinnati RHP Rhett Lowder (3-5, 4.81). TV – Brewers.TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers vs. Reds, July 1, 7:10 p.m.: Milwaukee LHP Shane Drohan (3-2, 3.12) vs. Cincinnati LHP Andrew Abbott (5-4, 3.90). TV – Brewers.TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers vs. Reds, July 2, 1:10 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Jacob Misiorowski (9-3, 1.45) vs. Cincinnati RHP Chase Burns (9-1, 2.00). TV – Brewers.TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Cubs 4, Brewers 3 (10 innings): Joel Kuhnel melts down, offense scuffles
Reporting by Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
