Milwaukee Brewers rally falls short after Reds rock Jimmy Nelson
By Phil Watson
Jimmy Nelson had been the one starter the Milwaukee Brewers had gotten consistent work from, posting a 1.35 ERA through his first three outings.
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On Monday, the Cincinnati Reds undid all of that, taking advantage of the right-hander’s control struggles to chase him with one out in the third inning of a 9-6 victory over the Crew at Great American Ballpark.
Nelson was charged with seven runs on six hits and five walks in 2.1 innings, allowing a homer and striking out just one. His ERA blossomed to 4.03.
The Reds (9-10) erupted for four runs in the bottom of the second off Nelson (1-2), including a two-run homer by Jay Bruce, an RBI single by pitcher Jason Marquis that just went off the glove of third baseman Aramis Ramirez and a bases-loaded walk to Zack Cozart.
Milwaukee (4-16) struck back for a run in the top of the third. Martin Maldonado worked a one-out walk, moved up to second on Nelson’s sacrifice bunt and scored on a single to right by Jean Segura.
Nelson lost it in the third, however.
After back-to-back walks to open the inning, Nelson threw a wild pitch to move runners up to second and third and after getting a groundout, Nelson threw another wild one that brought in a run. Marlon Byrd’s RBI single off Gerardo Parra’s glove in right made it a 6-1 game and right-hander Rob Wooten, in for Nelson, threw a wild pitch of his own that plated another run.
“Something happened where he lost his ability to make pitches and it bothered him,” manager Ron Roenicke told MLB.com of Nelson’s struggles. “He just lost his command and we didn’t help him much.”
The Brewers got a two-out run in the sixth when Parra doubled to right and came home on Adam Lind’s single to right.
The Reds got two runs in the sixth. Cozart led off with a triple off Wooten and with one out, Wooten walked Todd Frazier. Left-hander Neal Cotts was summoned and allowed a sacrifice fly by Bruce and an RBI double by Brandon Phillips.
But the Brewers made it interesting in the ninth.
Marquis was lifted after eight innings—his longest outing in almost two years—and former Brewer Burke Badenhop was brought in to mop up.
Lind led off the top of the ninth with a walk and pinch-hitter Jason Rogers singled off Joey Votto’s glove at first base. Ramirez singled to right to load the bases.
Badenhop struck out Elian Herrera before Maldonado singled to right to bring in Lind and keep the bases loaded.
Apr 27, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Milwaukee Brewers catcher Martin Maldonado (12) hits an RBI single off Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Burke Badenhop (not pictured) at Great American Ball Park. The Reds won 9-6. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
Now faced with a save situation, Cincinnati manager Bryan Price brought in closer Aroldis Chapman, who promptly hit Hector Gomez with a pitch that made it a 9-4 game.
Segura hit a soft grounder up the middle that plated two more runs, making it 9-6 with the tying run at the plate.
But Chapman rebounded striking out pinch-hitters Luis Jimenez and Ryan Braun to end it.
“We didn’t do anything off Marquis,” Roenicke told MLB.com. “He threw the ball well. We didn’t square up many balls against him. We didn’t start off well against him in his last outing, either. He kept the ball down. He had good movement. He threw a nice sinker. He knows how to change speeds.”
Nelson was unhappy with his effort.
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“For our hitters to show that kind of resiliency and for me not to give us a chance really bothers me,” Nelson said. “Probably I was rushing a little bit. It got away from me a little.”
Wooten saved the bullpen, at least, throwing 56 pitches and working three innings. He was charged with two runs on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Cotts went 1.2 innings and allowed a hit and a walk while fanning one. Will Smith pitched the eighth, working around a walk—one of the season-high nine given up by Milwaukee on Monday.
Lind was 2-for-3 with a walk, Parra went 2-for-4 and scored a run, Logan Schafer also went 2-for-4 and Segura was 2-for-5 with three RBI.
Back-to-back games with double-digit hits have the Brewers’ season batting average up to .228.
The series continues Tuesday at GABP, with right-hander Kyle Lohse (1-3, 7.94) matched up against right-hander Johnny Cueto (1-2, 1.86). Game time is 6:10 p.m. Central.