Milwaukee Brewers blank Mets to open road trip
By Phil Watson
Ryan Braun played like a star and Kyle Lohse pitched like an ace.
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That was more than enough for the Milwaukee Brewers to kick off their 10-game road trip the right way, blitzing the NL East-leading New York Mets 7-0 at Citi Field Friday night.
Braun homered twice and made a diving catch to help preserve Milwaukee’s second shutout of the season, while Lohse had by far his strongest outing of the campaign, working eight shutout innings in one of the best starts of his 15-year career.
“That was a lot more like it,” Lohse told MLB.com. “It’s been so frustrating the last couple starts, feeling like I was so close to going out there and doing something similar to that, save for a couple of big mistakes. … It felt good to kind of get back to a little more normal start for myself.”
Lohse’s ERA dropped by more than a full run—from 7.03 to 5.85—with the gem.
The only hits Lohse surrendered were a single by Wilmer Flores to lead off the fifth and a double by Daniel Murphy with one out in the seventh.
The Brewers’ revolving door starting lineup shuffled again Friday, with third baseman Aramis Ramirez returning after missing six games with a stiff lower back and shortstop Jean Segura missing his first game after going on the disabled list with a broken finger.
Hector Gomez started at shortstop and batted ninth, with Lohse in the eighth spot.
No, new manager Craig Counsell—who is now 6-5 since taking over the club on May 4—isn’t afraid to push some unconventional buttons.
Lohse batted in the eighth spot—the first Brewer pitcher to bat in a position other than ninth since Randy Wolf on June 4, 2010, who batted eighth with shortstop Alcides Escobar ninth under then-manager Ned Yost.
“I think the bigger picture is, as we start to get some of these guys healthy, it’s kind of what I had my eye on,” Counsell said. “The goal is just getting runners on base for the top of the order.”
The Brewers took the lead off Mets right-hander Bartolo Colon in the second when Adam Lind and Ramirez started the inning with back-to-back doubles.
Ramirez was 3-for-4 in his return.
Milwaukee (13-23) broke it open in the third, battering Colon for four runs on three extra-base hits.
Hector Gomez reached on a throwing error by Flores to start the frame and scored when Carlos Gomez doubled to center. Gerardo Parra switched places with Carlos Gomez at second with a double to right and Braun followed with the first of his two home runs, a blast to left field.
Parra hit his second home run of the season to lead off the fifth, putting the Brewers up 6-0.
Braun’s second homer of the ninth and eighth of the season closed the scoring in the eighth. Braun hit a line-drive laser over the right-center field wall off right-hander Carlos Torres.
The long balls were Braun’s sixth and seventh in May as the Brewers handed the Mets (20-16) their fifth straight loss and their 13th in their last 20 games.
“We’ve had plenty of nights like this, but ultimately, we’ve been on the other side of them,” Braun told MLB.com. “It’s nice to have one like this where things go so well on both sides of the ball. We’ve been playing better the last couple weeks, much better baseball, much more consistent baseball.”
Lohse (3-4) struck out eight and walked just one in his eight innings before Michael Blazek finished up, allowing a hit and fanning one in the ninth.
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Parra was also 3-for-4 for the Crew and Braun was 2-for-4 with his two homers.
The Brewers continued to treat Citi Field like they own the place. With the win, Milwaukee is now 14-6 there since the ballpark opened in 2009 and have won six of their last eight there dating back to 2013.
The series continues Saturday at 6:10 p.m. Central, with right-hander Matt Garza (2-4, 4.04 ERA) scheduled to take on Jacob deGrom (3-4, 3.46).
Garza is 1-0 in three starts against the Mets in his career, with a 1.64 ERA. He went eight innings, allowing a run on two hits, in his last start against New York, getting the victory in a 9-1 win at Miller Park last July 24.
deGrom is 1-1 in two starts against Milwaukee, with a 2.25 ERA, with both starts coming as a rookie in 2014. He pitched 6.1 scoreless innings and got the win last July 27 at Miller Park in a 2-0 victory for the Mets.
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