Brewers 4, Padres 3: Close Call In San Diego

Box Score

SP: Colin Rea - 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (83 pitches, 49 strikes (59.0%)
Home Runs: Rowdy Tellez (1), Mike Brosseau (2)
Top 3 WPA: Rowdy Tellez (.266), Colin Rea (.237), Willy Adames (.183) 
Bottom 3 WPA: Matt Bush (-.354), Garrett Mitchell (-.120), William Contreras (-.073) 

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Rea Gets His Revenge
Right-handed pitcher Colin Rea was called up to start this one for the Brewers, with Janson Junk being optioned back to the Nashville Sounds. The reason for this sudden addition to the rotation was the team wanting to give their frontline starters an extra day of rest. 

Having been a part of the Padres system from 2011-2018, Rea went to the Cubs and then the Brewers in 2021 before playing in Nippon Professional Baseball. Given that he pitched just 20 major-league innings in the past three years, Rea performed well against his old team, giving up just one earned run in 5 2/3 innings of work. 

It should also be mentioned that the one earned run he gave up was a home run to Manny Machado, a pretty decent player according to everyone but Dodgers fans.

Brewers Get Rowdy
The lineup wasted no time getting points on the board, with Christian Yelich drawing a leadoff walk to set up Rowdy Tellez for a two-run home run as just the third hitter of the game.

Mike Brosseau also hit his own long ball later in the night, a 413-foot rocket to dead center field. That gave the Brewers a 3-1 lead over the Padres, and was his second home run of the season.

Tellez stepped up to the plate (both literally and figuratively) again in the tenth inning, hitting a crucial sacrifice fly to score Yelich and give Milwaukee a one-run lead that eventually led to victory.

Other than the two home runs, the Brewers lineup wasn’t really able to get significant offense going. They struggled to get consecutive players on base, and in ten innings of work, they put up just six hits. Before the free baserunner in extra innings was added in 2020, there’s a good chance that sacrifice fly would have never happened.

Bullpen Saves Bush
The eighth inning started off great for Matt Bush, getting Ha-Seong Kim to ground out and striking out Rougned Odor. It seemed like Milwaukee was going to cruise to a 3-1 victory, until pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter walked and Trent Grisham hit a game-tying home run to right field. 

Bush was able to escape the inning, but just like that, the Padres were back in the game and well-positioned for a comeback victory. Luckily, a two-inning combined effort from Devin Williams (who still has an ERA of 0.00, by the way) and Joel Payamps held the Padres scoreless. 

Williams, in particular, struck out the heart of the Padres order in Juan Soto, Xander Bogaerts, and Nelson Cruz back-to-back, allowing Payamps to earn his first career save against slightly less intimidating opposition.

What’s Next?
The series against the Padres continues and the Brewers return to their usual lineup, calling on lefty Eric Lauer to pitch against righty Michael Wacha. Lauer hasn’t had the most stellar season thus far, posting an ERA of 7.71, but he’s pitched just 9 1/3 innings thus far, so let’s not break out the mean tweets just yet.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet