Article: Brewers 3, Diamondbacks 7: The Snakes Strike Back

[Jason Wang]

What looked like a possible comeback in the seventh inning ended in heartbreak, and the Brewers dropped the final game of the series to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Image courtesy of © Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score

SP: Janson Junk - 4.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (79 pitches, 52 strikes (65.8%)
Home Runs: None 
Top 3 WPA: Christian Yelich (.120), Mike Brosseau (.062), William Contreras (.021) 
Bottom 3 WPA: Janson Junk (-.241), Willy Adames (-.236), Gus Varland (-.074) 

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

We’re Not In Triple-A Anymore, Janson 
When Janson Junk was recalled to take the place of Brandon Woodruff, he had big shoes to fill. Having pitched just eight major league innings with the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim 😁) last year, Junk started the season with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, making just one start and one relief appearance for 10 total innings of work.

Junk escaped the first two innings relatively unscathed, with Josh Rojas reaching first on a catcher’s interference call on William Contreras and eventually scoring after a Lourdes Gurriel Jr. double and a groundout from Christian Walker. Things started falling apart in the third inning, though, as Junk gave up a single to Rojas, a walk to Ketel Marte, and then a home run to Gurriel, bringing the Diamondbacks' lead to 4-0. 

It didn't help that the defense also made three errors, two of them by Contreras. He had a throwing error in addition to the interference call. Mike Brosseau also made his second error of the season, a botched throw in the fifth inning.

Brewers Bats Get Active, Just Not At The Right Time
Just looking at the score, it seems as if the Milwaukee lineup was outclassed by the Diamondbacks, but the Brewers actually had a total of 11 hits over the game, just one fewer than the 12 recorded by Arizona. 

Much of their offense was in the seventh inning, where five consecutive hitters reached base with four singles and a walk, giving them three runs and cutting the deficit to two by the middle of the frame. A smaller rally broke out in the top of the eighth, when Contreras and Garrett Mitchell hit back-to-back singles, but three consecutive outs stamped out any comeback hopes. 

Overall, the batted-ball data shows that they just couldn’t get the ball up and out. Of the 20 balls with the highest xBA, just six of them were hit by Brewers.

The Game Giveth and The Game Taketh Away
We all know that baseball is a chaotic sport and players have good days and bad days. 

Contreras made a few defensive misplays but also went 3-for-4, recording two singles and a double. Contreras has been known to be a great hitter but somewhat of a defensive liability, having a Weighted Runs Created+ (wRC+) of 138 against a Defense Runs Saved (DRS) of -4 in his 2022 season with the Atlanta Braves. His framing and other defensive aspects have shown improvement this year, but we’ll see if those upgrades will persist through the remainder of the season.

Adames also had a tough performance, going 0-for-4 after seeming unstoppable at the plate over the past week. His OPS for the last seven games still stands at 1.080, so we’ll see if his regression to the norm begins now or if he’ll be able to keep riding his hot streak.

What’s Next? 
The Brewers will head to Petco Park to face off against the San Diego Padres. The probable pitcher for Milwaukee hasn’t yet been announced, but he will be pitching against right-hander Nick Martinez. 

Postgame Interviews

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	WED	TOT
Varland	32	0	0	0	31	63
Guerra	28	0	20	0	10	58
Payamps	17	0	0	23	0	40
B Wilson	0	0	34	0	0	34
Bush	0	29	0	0	0	29
Strzelecki	0	20	0	0	0	20
Milner	0	5	0	0	15	20
Williams	0	14	0	0	0	14

 

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