Brewers devastating loss comes after silent message from Pat Murphy

Searching for their first win since Tuesday, the Milwaukee Brewers got off to another slow start against their division foe, the St. Louis Cardinals. Despite a game-tying, two-run home run in the top of the ninth from Jackson Chourio, who collected four hits in Saturday afternoon's game, the Brewers came up short once again as Cardinals' third baseman, Nolan Arenado, hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the frame.

While the team should look to build upon their near comeback and the slight momentum they gained before Arenado's bomb in the bottom of the ninth, another story emerged from Sunday's game that could shake things up in the Brewers' clubhouse, hopefully in a positive way.

Amid a period of sloppy play, Pat Murphy benches two starters after crucial mistakes

Manager Pat Murphy sent a message to his team with the benching of two of his starters after uncharacteristic errors from each of them. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Sal Frelick overthrew cut-off man Rhys Hoskins on an RBI-single from Lars Nootbaar, allowing the Cardinals' outfielder to advance to second base. On the subsequent play, Nootbaar scored after Hoskins couldn't pick a low throw from Brice Turang, a play that he wouldn't have scored on if he hadn't advanced to second on the previous play.

In the following inning, Caleb Durbin, the Brewers’ third baseman, was picked off at second base after his RBI double broke up Sonny Gray's shutout. Durbin would have scored two batters later when Chourio roped a double to left field.

Each of the two plays resulted in a run that otherwise shouldn't have been or wasn't scored. In a game that was decided by a walk-off homerun in the ninth, those two plays made the difference. For a team like the Brewers, who pride themselves on their sound defensive play and base-running acumen, those types of plays are unacceptable and are the difference between a winning baseball club and a losing one.

Neither play was due to lack of effort or hustle, two traits that have not wavered throughout the Brewers' current losing streak, but Murphy's decision to bench two of his starters sends a message to his squad that they need to be sharper if they want to start winning games.

Yes, the Brewers were on the wrong side of a bad call in the middle of the game, and they were the recipients of bad luck on several plays that could've tilted the scales in their favor, but the point is that they would have won the game despite those plays had the team played the sharp, clean baseball that they generally do.

The Brewers have a great opportunity to end their losing streak tomorrow afternoon, with veteran José Quintana, who is off to a record-breaking start, on the mound. They will face Cardinals' 2024 trade deadline acquisition, Erick Fedde, who has posted a 3.33 ERA across his first five starts.