A win on Friday night would’ve put the Milwaukee Brewers in a tie for first with the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central. However, a bullpen meltdown cost the Brewers as they fell to the Rockies 11-7.
Manager Craig Counsell has consistently pulled his starters early during their September surge but it didn’t work out in their favor against the Rockies. Starter Zach Davies turned in a solid outing going five innings of one-run ball.
A 2-1 lead turned into a large deficit quickly in the bottom of the sixth when Counsell called upon his bullpen. Relievers Ray Black, Alex Claudio and Jay Jackson combined to give up seven runs in the frame as Colorado jumped in front 8-2 leading to the victory.
#Brewers manager Craig Counsell talks about what went wrong in Rockies big inning and why he pulled Davies for PH. pic.twitter.com/FW9Cnc1sxI
— Tom (@Haudricourt) September 28, 2019
The loss also dropped the Brewers two games back of the Washington Nationals for the top wild card spot. With only two games remaining the Brewers need to win out and get some help from the Chicago Cubs (vs Cardinals) and/or Cleveland Indians (vs Nationals).
Next up, the Brewers (89-71) will look to get one back against the Rockies (69-91) on Saturday night. Gio Gonzalez (3|2, 3.70 ERA, 73 SO) will get the start opposite of Chi Chi Gonzalez (2|6, 5.68 ERA, 40 SO). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm.