Milwaukee Brewers: Saturday’s The Great, Good, and Ugly

Saturday was a rough night for the Milwaukee Brewers. The beat down by the Cubs shattered a six game winning streak. There were still some bright spots for the Brewers, but there were also some glaring weak spots. Let’s talk about the great, the good, and the bad from Saturday’s 14-8 loss.

The Great: The Usual Suspects

The Brewers put together a respectable offensive performance on Saturday.

Lorenzo Cain led off the game with a solo home run to right center field off of Cole Hamels. After the Brewers gave up a two-run homer to Jason Heyward in the top of the second Cain would drive in Yasmani Grandal off a sacrifice fly to tie the game at two. Cain’s reliability at the plate is a must have for the Brewers.

Eric Thames had another nice appearance after being put into the game late in the 8^th. Thames hit a three-run homer in his one at-bat of the game. It was his second home run of the season. Thames’ role as a reliable pinch hitter and as part of a double-switch is a good role for him.

The Good: Defensive Play

The Brewers didn’t give up any runs due to errors or field play. Despite an error by Jesus Aguilar in the seventh that allowed Kyle Schwarber to reach first and one other error, the Brewers defense was solid.

Ryan Braun had a decent night at the plate as well. He had one hit in his five at-bats. That one hit happened to be a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh. If you’re going to have one hit, it might as well be that.

The Ugly: Pitching

As though you couldn’t have guessed… Brewers pitching gave up 12 hits in Saturday’s matchup. Burnes pitched five innings, giving up six hits and seven runs. Three of those hits were home runs. He did manage to post six strikeouts, but this was an ugly start for Burnes.

Guerra and Barnes both had decent appearances as they didn’t allow any runs.

Alex Wilson, however, wasn’t able to complete a full inning but gave up four hits and six runs. His ERA now sits at 12.46 on 4.1 innings pitched.

Taylor Williams closed out the game for the Brewers and pitched 1.2 innings, allowing one run off of two hits. He didn’t have the ugliest performance, but didn’t help the Brewers cause.

The Milwaukee Brewers closed out their series with the Cubs on Sunday with a 4-2 win.