MILWAUKEE – Rookie starter Jacob Misiorowski ran into another mid-inning roadblock and veteran setup man Shelby Miller walked off the field with an elbow injury. But for everything that went wrong on Monday, the Brewers didn’t reach the end of their 19th game in the last 18 days without a fight.
Milwaukee pinch-hitter Isaac Collins delivered a two-out, two-run single to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth inning and set the stage for a fiery ninth, when manager Pat Murphy was ejected for disputing multiple calls on check-swings that contributed to one, final go-ahead rally for the Phillies, who beat the Brewers, 10-8 in front of a sellout crowd on Labor Day at American Family Field.
If ever there was a good time for a day off, this was it.
“I guess I need to realize that,” Murphy said. “I’m disappointed about today, but you’ve got to credit the Phillies. They’ve got a great club and we swept them [in Philadelphia], and they remember it.”
Just like Murphy and the Brewers will remember this one, and not fondly. Besides losing a key bullpen arm in Miller after he sensed a “pop” in his right elbow, according to Murphy, the Brewers saw the game slip away amid a couple of disputed calls in the ninth after closer Abner Uribe put himself in a tough spot by walking slugger Kyle Schwarber to open the inning — the third time over the final five innings that a free baserunner started a multirun inning for the Phillies.
Still, Uribe and the Brewers thought they had a path to escape. They thought they had Bryce Harper struck out on a check swing, but didn’t get the call. Harper struck out on the next pitch. They were even more sure the next batter, J.T. Realmuto, had struck out on a check swing, but didn’t get the call again; this time it was Ball 4. When Murphy came out of the dugout to protest, he was ejected. And when play resumed, Uribe yielded a go-ahead ground-ball single, followed by a blooper that made it 10-8.
The Brewers finished 9-10 in their long stretch while asking the bullpen to cover 80 innings, most in the Majors over that stretch by far. Going into Monday’s games, the Orioles were next on the list at 65 2/3 innings.
“I’d be lying to you if I said the past few days and this stretch has been easy,” Uribe said. “But we have the off-day and I think we’re going to be able to bounce back as a whole.”
It added up to a frustrating finish to an afternoon that began with such promise, with the Brewers building leads of 4-0 into the fourth inning and 5-1 into the fifth. Brice Turang followed a 10-homer August with a leadoff shot in his first at-bat of September to start a three-run first inning, and Caleb Durbin hit his own solo shot in the second to back Misiorowski as the 23-year-old right-hander appeared to be putting all the pieces together in what has been a jumbled second half.
Then, cracks began to appear, starting with Misiorowski.
He surrendered a Harper home run in the fourth, then walked Max Kepler in what became a two-run fifth on Trea Turner’s one-out double, knocking Misiorowski out of the game. Through a combination of the Brewers controlling his innings and his recently wobbly performances, he has not thrown a pitch beyond the fifth inning since the All-Star Game.
“I think we’re learning as we go,” Murphy said. “We need him as a starter right now and he’s developing as a starter. That discussion hasn’t begun about what else could happen.”
Misiorowski’s ERA ticked up to 4.50 after he was charged with three runs on six hits and one costly walk in 4 1/3 innings.
“You can’t expect to go perfect in every game and go out there and give up one run,” Misiorowski said “Everyone is like, ‘What’s happening?’ It’s baseball.”
Asked what lessons he’s learned in his first 11 starts, Misiorowski said, “You have to rely on the defense. It’s not just all you. Going through the Minor Leagues, you can kind of fly by the seat of your pants and make it happen by yourself, but up here, you have to rely on those guys.”
Misiorowski conceded that “it’s been a grind” for the pitching staff going through 18 consecutive game days. Still, the Brewers emerged with MLB’s best record at 85-54 and best run differential at +161.
On Tuesday, they earned a break.
“I can see how people outside of this could see it as a complicated situation, playing that many games,” Uribe said through translator Daniel de Mondesert. “But for us in here in the clubhouse, that’s just how it goes. We’re used to this and this lifestyle, and just being ready to show up the next day ready to go.
“All of us, we feel good physically and mentally. But we’re definitely ready to enjoy the off-day.”
