Not sure how you define going for the jugular for a baseball manager. If it means managing every game like there’s no tomorrow, they obviously can’t do that.
I don’t think Counsell would have managed any differently yesterday if Williams had blown the lead Saturday night to tie the series.
Not starting Yelich and Frelick made sense against the LHP considering that both have been scuffling and Yelich could use a day off. Starting Caratini made sense with the short turnaround from Saturday night, but he was still able to keep Contreras’ bat in the lineup.
As for the bullpen moves, I assume Williams, Milner, and Megill were available in emergencies only. That reduced the available options for the late innings. Going into the 7th with a 2-1 lead there is room for second guessing, but with at least 3 more innings to cover, Counsell tried to squeeze another inning, or at least another couple of outs, from Miley to preserve some options for later. That obviously didn’t work out, but I think his decisions were driven by the status of pitchers in the bullpen, not the fact that the Brewers won the first two games of the series.
Recognizing the two rocket hits in the sixth, I would have pulled Miley after the first HR in the seventh, but I can see why Counsell did what he did.