Diamondbacks 6, Brewers 3: Last strikes

October 3, 2023
|In Brewers
|By Zach Heilprin

MILWAUKEE — A tough outing for Corbin Burnes and missed chances by the offense left Milwaukee one loss from having its season ended after falling 6-3 to Arizona in the first game of a best-of-three Wild Card series on Tuesday night at American Family Field.

Play of the Game:

Milwaukee trailed 4-3 in the fifth but had the bases loaded with just one out. It appeared Tyrone Taylor had at a minimum tied the game as he lined one seemingly over the out-stretched arm of third baseman Evan Longoria. But the 37-year-old still had some lift in his legs, leaping up to snag it in the tip of his glove. After falling to the ground, he was alert enough to catch Willy Adames off of second for the double play to end the inning.

What Went Right

The start

The Brewers got off to the start they wanted against rookie Brandon Pfaadt, scoring one run in the first with some small ball that was capped by a slow-rolling single from Carlos Santana to score Christian Yelich. They were able to tack on two more in the second inning thanks to Taylor blasting an 0-2 pitch 403-feet into the left field stands. Milwaukee chased Pfaadt from the game after just 2 2/3 innings having racked up seven hits and three runs.

The bullpen…almost

Milwaukee didn’t get the outing it wanted from Corbin Burnes, but the bullpen kept the team in it almost to the end. Abner Uribe worked himself out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth inning, while Elvis Peguero, Toby Milner and Joel Payamps kept the game 4-3 heading to the ninth inning. It fell apart there, as Devin Williams didn’t have his best stuff, walking three and giving up a pair of runs to effectively drive the nail into the Brewers’ coffin.

What Went Wrong:

Corbin Burnes

The team needed a big effort from its top pitcher but Burnes didn’t provide it. He made it through the Diamondbacks order the first time before they jumped on him the next time around. Corbin Carroll took Burnes deep on a 2-run shot in the third and it was immediately followed by a Ketel Marte solo shot to tie the game. It was more the same in the fourth as catcher Gabriel Moreno went deep to give the Diamondbacks a lead they would not relinquish.

Burnes had allowed just three home runs in his last six starts combined before serving up three on Tuesday night. It was also the third time he’s given up three in a game this season after not doing it once over the last three years.

The offense

Despite the good start to the game, the offense didn’t do enough with the opportunities it had. That 1-0 lead at the end of the first could have been more, as they struck out three straight times to leave a pair of runners stranded. In the third, they loaded the bases and didn’t manage to get a single run across. The fifth ended with Longoria’s great play and Milwaukee didn’t have a runner in scoring position again until there were two outs in the ninth. For the game, the Brewers went 3-for-11 when they had a chance to drive in a run and left 11 runners on base.

What They Said

Manager Craig Counsell on his team being the brink of having its season come to an end with one more loss:

“Look, in a three-game series, you lose Game 1, your back is up against the wall. You’ve faced adversity and we have to respond to it. It’s as simple as that.”

Taylor on how he was feeling on the play that the 16-year MLB vet Evan Longoria made to rob him of a game-tying hit:

“It was disbelief. He’s been doing it since I was a little kid. I’ve watched that man do that, so I shouldn’t have been in that much disbelief. It was a good play by him. Things didn’t go our way tonight.”

In Case You Missed It

— Milwaukee legend and Brewers play-by-play announcer Bob Uecker got the honor of throwing out the first pitch. The 89-year-old is in his 53rd year on the mic for the Crew.

— Brandon Woodruff, who is missing the series due to a shoulder injury discovered Monday, was introduced to the fans with the other reserves. He was showered with one of the loudest ovations of any player.

— There were three calls reviewed in a game that lasted 3 hours and 37 minutes, with the Brewers coming out on the bad side of two of them. One took a run off the board after it was determined that Brice Turang did not get hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, while Yelich being called safe at second as he scrambled back to second was overturned. One did go their way, as William Contreras’ throwing out of Carroll at second was upheld in the seventh.

— Jesse Winker hadn’t seen big league pitching since July 24, but Counsell turned to him in the eighth inning with the Brewers trailing by one run. It didn’t go well, as he appeared to injure his oblique early in the at-bat. He would go on to strike out. Counsell didn’t have an update on him after the game. It’s possible he could be replaced on the roster due to the injury.

— Milwaukee is just 1-8 in its last nine playoff games and is currently on a four-game losing streak in the postseason.

— It was announced after the game that Freddy Peralta would get the start in a must-win Game 2 on Wednesday. He had been slated to start a potential Game 3 before Woodruff’s injury. The Diamondbacks will send their ace Zac Gallen to the mound.

What’s next?

Milwaukee (0-1) will look to keep its season alive against Arizona (1-0) in Game 2 of the best-of-3 Wild Card series.