Freddy Peralta Reaches Major Milestone, But Brewers Lose to San Diego in Extra Innings

Fresh off clinching their third straight National League Central title (and fourth in the last five years), the Milwaukee Brewers entered Monday night’s contest in San Diego with only one goal in mind: winning enough games to claim the top seed in the NL playoff race.

But the Brewers would not add to their victory total in the opener of their series out West, as catcher Freddy Fermin laced a liner to left-center to score Bryce Johnson in the bottom of the 11^th inning, giving the Padres a 5-4 win—and a spot in the postseason.

Fastball Freddy Joins Select Company
Freddy Peralta struck out six Padres, giving him 201 strikeouts on the year. It is the third time the Brewers' ace has struck out 200 or more batters in a season, joining Pedro Martínez (nine times), Juan Marichal (six), and Mario Soto (three) as Dominican hurlers who have been so prolific. In addition, he tied Corbin Burnes for second-most such seasons in Brewers history, trailing only Yovani Gallardo. Teddy Higuera (twice), Ben Sheets, Brandon Woodruff, Zack Greinke, and Doug Davis each reached the milestone, too.

What Strike Zone?
Home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz (no relation to Joey) seemed to have his own unique interpretation of a strike zone. On at least four occasions, Ortiz called pitches that were easily three inches above the zone as strikes, while a like number of offerings that touched the bottom line of the strike zone frame were called balls. Both dugouts were barking at the beleaguered arbiter at various times during the game.

Top Performers

• Christian Yelich, 1-for-3, 2 RBI, 3 BB
• Andrew Vaughn, 2-for-3, BB
• Caleb Durbin, 2-for-5, RBI

Not Great, Bob

• Jackson Chourio, 0-for-6, 2 K
• Grant Anderson, 2 Pitches, 1 H, 1 R, Loss

Next Up
The Brewers dropped to 95-62, but they still have a 2.5-game lead over Philadelphia for the top seed in the National League. Milwaukee has five games left, while the Phillies have six. In the middle game of the three-game set with San Diego Tuesday night, southpaw Bruce Zimmermann will make his first big-league start since June 15, 2022 for Milwaukee, against San Diego’s Randy Vasquez and several hungover teammates.

Bullpen Usage