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 A day after getting thrashed by the St. Louis Cardinals and
calling a team meeting to regroup for the stretch run, the Brewers
saw their postseason hopes take another beating Monday with a 6-4
loss to the Miami Marlins at Miller Park.
Once again, the Brewers' rotation gets most of the blame. A
steadying force for much of the season, the starters are falling
apart in crunch time, posting a collective 1-7 record and 7.78 ERA
through eight September starts.
Right-hander Yovani Gallardo kept that dubious streak going, serving
up three home runs and lasting just 3 2/3 innings -- his shortest
start of the season aside from injury-shortened outings -- to earn
his third consecutive loss.
"He just missed his spots," manager Ron Roenicke said. "Up in the
zone and over the plate with all of his pitches, really. He just
never got it going."
Milwaukee (74-70) sits six games behind the Cardinals in the
National League Central and trails the Pittsburgh Pirates by 1 1/2
games for the second National League wild card.
Gallardo (8-9) struggled off the bat, giving up a leadoff single to
left fielder Christian Yelich, who scored on a two-out hit by third
baseman Casey McGehee.
Gallardo caught a break, though, when McGehee was caught trying to
take second on the play. In the bottom of the inning, the Brewers
grabbed a 2-1 lead.
It would be short-lived, though, as Gallardo fell apart in the
second.
Center fielder Marcell Ozuna erased the Brewers' lead with a solo
home run to lead off the inning -- a mammoth shot that bounced off
the scoreboard in dead center.
First baseman Garrett Jones was next, and he tagged a 3-1 Gallardo
fastball left for his 14th home run of the season. The Marlins
(70-72) added another run in the inning on Yelich's RBI single.
Right fielder Giancarlo Stanton broke the game open with a solo home
run to right to open the third.
"His stuff was a little elevated," said Stanton, who tied his career
high with 37 home runs on the season and moved into a tie for the
all-time franchise lead with 154. "I will say his breaking pitches
weren't as sharp or placed like he usually does. When a pitcher is
not feeling their best, that is what you have to do, hop on them."
An third-inning error by third baseman Aramis Ramirez led to another
Marlins run, and Roenicke ended Gallardo's day.
"I didn't do the job I was supposed to do," Gallardo said. "It was
just never there. It's not easy for the guys to come back from being
down four runs that early in the game."
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Right-hander Marco Estrada kept the Marlins at bay for the next 4 1/3
innings, but the Brewers' offense could do little against Brad Penny.
The Miami right-hander scattered four hits and two runs over six
innings, his longest outing since Sept. 14, 2011.
"Brad did a great job shutting them down and getting some big double
plays, giving us six solid innings," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said.
"He did exactly what we needed him to do."
Milwaukee finally showed signs of life in the eighth, adding runs on a
double by center fielder Carlos Gomez and a single by catcher Jonathan
Lucroy.
However, with the tying run at the plate, Ramirez bounced to second,
ending the inning. Marlins right-hander Steve Cishek recorded his 33rd
save with a perfect ninth.
"We can't seem to do anything right right now, but at the end of the
day, we're not out of this," said Brewers first baseman Mark Reynolds,
who went 0-for-3 and is batting .136 since Aug. 1.
"We're still a game or two out of the wild card. We've set it up tough
for us, but we just have to come out and do all the little things right,
make the pitches when we need to and get the big hits.
"It seems like earlier in the year, we were doing that in every game,
and now it's magnified because of how late in the season it is. We're
going to keep at it, and see where we're at at the end of September."
NOTES: OF Carlos Gomez returned to the Brewers' lineup for the first
time since spraining his left wrist a week ago in San Francisco. Since
then, Gomez pinch-ran and played an inning in center field, and he also
had a pinch-hit, RBI single Sunday against the Cardinals. ... The
Marlins improved to 4-14 at Miller Park since 2009. ... Marlins 3B Casey
McGehee spent his first three full major league seasons with the
Brewers. In 429 games between 2009-11, McGehee hit .267 with 52 home
runs and 237 RBIs. He was named the Brewers' most valuable player in
2010.
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