Brewers: The 5 Most Heartbreaking Losses of September and October

Here are the five most heartbreaking Brewers losses from the months of September and October.

2. Tuesday, September 20th vs Mets

After ultimately dropping the series to the Rockies, things started looking up. The Brewers would win or tie their next four series, which included taking two of three from the Yankees at home. Once the AL East leaders left town, they were replaced by the NL East-leading Mets.

Though Milwaukee would lose their first matchup in that series, they appeared ready to even things up in game two. Four different run-scoring hits had the Brewers up with a 4-0 lead through five innings.

Home Run Derby champ Pete Alonso would pull the Mets within one with a three-run shot off of normally relieable Brad Boxberger. One inning later, Milwaukee’s lead would be lost as Rogers would give up another late-inning homer, this one a grand slam to Francisco Lindor.

The Brewers would tack on one more in the eighth before eventually losing the game 7-5 for their first series loss since the Colorado series.

3. Sunday, September 25th @ Reds

Milwaukee did a good job of dusting themselves off after that loss. They prevented a Mets sweep with a win in the final game of the series, then headed to Cincinnati and won the first three games of a four-game set, setting things up for a possible sweep of their own.

The Brewers took an early lead on a Hunter Renfroe solo homer in the second inning. Two innings later, the Reds tied the game on a bases loaded hit by pitch by Aaron Ashby who had come on in relief in his second game off the injured list.

Both teams would trade scoreless half innings until the bottom of the eighth. That was when reliever Matt Bush, who gave up more than one back-breaking, late-inning home run after being traded to the Brewers, gave up another one, this one a solo homer to rookie Spencer Steer.

Milwaukee would go down in order in the ninth, not only losing their chance to sweep the Reds but also missing an opportunity to pull within a half game of the Phillies for the final Wild Card spot.

Here are the five most heartbreaking Brewers losses from the months of September and October.

4. Thursday, September 29th vs Marlins

While the Padres started pulling ahead in the playoff race, the Phillies did not. As Milwaukee went into their second-to-last series of the season against Miami, they trailed Philadelphia by just a half game in the Wild Card standings. By the time the first game between the Brewers and Marlins kicked off, the final Wild Card spot would be momentarily locked in a tie.

Everything went Milwaukee’s way for most of the game. Run-scoring doubles by Mike Brosseau and Keston Hiura in the second gave the Crew a 2-0 lead. Eric Lauer gave up just a hit in a scoreless five innings in his second start off the IL.

The bullpen kept that trend going until the eighth inning. Freddy Peralta, another pitcher fresh off the IL, was in his second inning of work and found himself in trouble. Then with the bases loaded and two outs, ex-Brewer Avisail Garcia hit a grand slam to give the Marlins a 4-2 lead.

With the air sucked out of American Family Field, the Brewers wouldn’t score again and lose by that 4-2 score. Their chance to go move a half game ahead of the Phillies was gone….

5. Saturday, October 1st vs Marlins

….and yet, all was not lost for the Brewers. After a thrilling 1-0 win over the Marlins the next day to keep pace with the Phillies and a Philadelphia split the next day, Milwaukee this time had a chance to pull even in the standings.

The Marlins took an early lead with a two-run homer off Ashby in the third inning. A Christian Yelich solo homer in the fourth would cut the lead in half though, and an RBI hit by pitch and groundout in the sixth gave the Crew the lead they needed. This time, they were able to get the game to their reliable star closer, Devin Williams.

Williams would sandwich a strikeout between two walks and then throw a wild pitch that allowed the two runners to move to second and third. Then on a full count, Bryan De La Cruz would rope a single to left, scoring both runners and giving the Marlins a 4-3 lead.

Milwaukee would go down in order in the bottom of the ninth, leaving them a game behind the Phillies. Though they had four games left to claw their way into the playoffs, this felt like the finishing blow.

With their elimination number at three, the Brewers would lose another game in heartbreaking fashion the next day. As it came after the Phillies had game had already called in their favor due to weather, that number moved down to one. The day after that, despite a win for the Crew, their percent chance to make the playoffs finally hit zero.

Want your voice heard? Join the Reviewing The Brew team!

Write for us!

Every season is full of a handful of bad losses for every MLB team. Unfortunately for the Brewers, many of theirs came at the worst times possible.