Article: Brewers 5, Twins 7: Twins Show Up Fashionably Late

[Jason Wang]

The Brewers losing streak extends to five games after a heartbreaking ninth-inning rally by the Minnesota Twins.

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Corbin Burnes - 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 99 pitches, 69 strikes (69.7%)
Home Runs: Christian Yelich (9)
Top 3 WPA: Christian Yelich (.410), Rowdy Tellez (.086), Joel Payamps (.083) 
Bottom 3 WPA: Devin Williams (-.916), Joey Wiemer (-.115), Owen Miller (-.082) 

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Burnes Puts Up Another Quality Start
While he did give up quite a few hits, he still limited scoring and struck out eight Twins batters. After two scoreless innings, he gave up three consecutive hits to Michael A. Taylor, Edouard Julien, and Donovan Solano, batting in Minnesota’s first run. Carlos Correa followed by hitting a grounder to third base, getting himself out at first but allowing Julien to score the Twins’ second run. 

After cruising through innings four through six, Burnes attempted to extend his start into the seventh inning, but Kyle Farmer promptly sent him packing after hitting a home run to left field. 

Want to read this game recap from the perspective of a Twins fan? Check it out here!

While he made mistakes, we again saw glimpses of greatness throughout his start. He recorded his first three strikeouts in the first inning and was using his rarely seen slider with lethal efficiency. He threw it just eight times and recorded five strikes, two balls, and a groundout.

Burnes’s ERA and WHIP currently stand at 3.44 and 1.10 over 83.2 innings pitched and 14 starts.

Brewers Take The Lead Early
Milwaukee scored its first runs in the third inning where a leadoff walk and a single by Victor Caratini would be driven in by a Christian Yelich double to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead. A Rowdy Tellez RBI single would bring Milwaukee to a 3-0 lead.

Yelich continued the onslaught in the seventh inning, hitting a 401-foot 2-RBI home run to left field and putting the Brewers up 5-2.

By the time Yelich rounded the bases, the Brewers had an 89.0% chance of winning the first game of the series. With just two more innings left, Milwaukee’s bullpen just had to bring the team in nice and easy.

Even Gods Can Bleed
Hoby Milner, Elvis Peguero, and Joel Payamps would get the job done in the seventh and eighth innings, allowing two hits, one walk, and zero runs between the three of them. This is exactly what the Brewers wanted. They just needed to get the ball to Devin Williams, their lockdown closer who had been solid all year. He took the mound with a 0.42 ERA and it seemed like the game was all but over.

Unfortunately, this is Milwaukee, so nothing can ever break our way. Let’s break down the series of unfortunate events that followed.

1. Michael A. Taylor hits a home run. The score is now 5-4 in favor of Milwaukee.
2. Edouard Julien walks.
3. Willi Castro enters the game as a pinch runner for Edouard Julien
4. Willi Castro steals second base
5. Donovan Solano singles on a line drive to allow Castro to score, tying the game at 5-5.
6. Carlos Correa hits a 2-RBI home run to walk the game off.

Without recording a single out, Williams conceded four earned runs and almost single handedly lost the game. In an almost perfect depiction of the chaos of baseball, one of the best closers in the game today had one of the worst ninth inning relief appearances all season. 

Anything can happen in this game.

Twins Fans Perspective from Twins Daily 
Our friends over at Twins Daily had a slightly different perspective on the end of this game. Check out the game recap over there to see how it differs. 

What’s Next? 
Colin Rea will face Bailey Ober in the second game of this midwest matchup and hope to escape with a much-needed win. The Brewers are looking to build up some semblance of momentum before facing the team’s division rival and current NL Central leader, the Pittsburgh Pirates.

They currently trail the Pirates for the division lead by one game.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	TOT
Milner	32	0	11	0	11	54
Peguero	0	23	17	0	6	46
Payamps	0	19	0	0	25	44
Williams	0	23	0	0	14	37
Megill	27	0	6	0	0	33
B Wilson	18	0	12	0	0	30
Strzelecki	0	0	20	0	0	20
Miller	10	0	0	0	0	10
Sousa	0	0	0	0	0	0

Tweet Highlight

View full article

[Playing Catch]

A lot of folks here have stated that they'd be okay with Yelich at his annual salary if he returned to his Miami numbers. He has basically done that. Thanks in large part to his league average defense, he's been just an all-around very good starting left fielder. Keep it up, Yeli!