Brewers: Giants lower boom with 5-run 7th
By Phil Watson
The Milwaukee Brewers were shut out for the third time in five days Wednesday, dropping the series finale to the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park, 5-0.
San Francisco (56-45) scored all of its runs in a fateful seventh inning, finally getting to right-hander Mike Fiers (5-9), who had allowed just two hits through the first six frames.
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Fiers came out after surrendering two straight hits, including an RBI double to Hunter Pence that broke the scoreless deadlock.
But left-hander Will Smith just threw gasoline on the fire.
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He surrendered a single to Brandon Belt, gave up a sacrifice fly to Brandon Crawford, allowed a double to Hector Sanchez and was victimized by a two-run single to right by Ehire Adrianza, who advanced to second when Jonathan Lucroy missed the throw at the plate trying to get Sanchez.
Jonathan Broxton relieved Smith and gave up a walk and a single to load the bases and a sacrifice fly Gregor Blanco before finally striking out Matt Duffy—the 10th man to bat in the inning—to end the mess.
The Brewers (44-58), who were just 2-5 on a seven-game swing through Arizona and San Francisco, were held to six hits, getting four in six shutout innings off Jake Peavy. Relievers Hunter Strickland (1-1), Sergio Romo and Javier Lopez each threw a scoreless inning to end it, with Romo giving up a pair of hits before escaping further danger.
Corey Knebel pitched a scoreless eighth, striking out two and walking one, for Milwaukee.
Gerardo Parra and Lucroy were each 2-for-4, with Parra extending his hitting streak to 13 games, matching the longest of his career. He also hit in 13 straight games while with the Diamondbacks from April 14-28, 2013.
During this streak, Parra is hitting .457/.519/.739, going 21-for-46 with four doubles, three triples and a homer.
“We didn’t get anything going today,” manager Craig Counsell told MLB.com. “There was no real inning where we had multiple guys on and a big rally. We struggled [Wednesday].
“Peavy did a nice job. He was kind of just getting you to chase something at the edge of the zone and the bullpen did a nice job.”
Much like early in the season, the Brewers were punchless with men in scoring position, going just 6-for-47—a .128 clip—during the road trip.
After leading the National League with 5.88 runs per game in July, through July 22, the Brewers scored 12 runs on the seven-game trip.
Milwaukee returns home to host the Chicago Cubs at 7:10 p.m. Thursday. Right-hander Jimmy Nelson (8-9, 3.97 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Brewers against right-hander Jake Arrieta (11-6, 2.61).
Nelson is 0-3 in four starts and two relief appearances against the Cubs in his career, with a 4.50 ERA and 1.214 WHIP to go with 27 strikeouts in 28 innings.
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He has faced them twice this season, most recently at Miller Park on May 8, when he took the loss after allowing four runs on five hits in seven innings with one walk and 11 strikeouts in a 7-6 Cubs win.
His last time out, Nelson shut out the Diamondbacks for seven innings on Friday, allowing five hits and three walks while fanning five.
Arrieta is 2-3 in six career starts against Milwaukee, posting a 3.22 ERA and 0.991 WHIP with 25 strikeouts in 36.1 innings. He took a loss in his only outing against the Brewers this season, allowing four runs on seven hits with a walk and six strikeouts in five innings of a 6-1 Milwaukee win at Wrigley Field on May 2.
Arrieta also took a loss in his last start on Saturday, allowing three runs on six hits in six innings, walking three and fanning eight, in a game won 5-0 by the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field.
Thursday’s game is the first of a four-game series as part of a 10-game homestand that includes three games each against the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals.
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