Pat Murphy said it perfectly on Tuesday night about Logan Webb, “I know the kid pitching tomorrow has shoved it up our (expletive) many times.”
And shove it, he did. Webb didn’t allow a baserunner until the 6th inning and didn’t allow his first hit until there was one out in the 7th inning. The Brewers offense was held completely in check. Webb went seven shutout innings, striking out five, and allowing just five hard-hit balls all night. Four of those five that were “hard-hit” (95+ MPH exit velocity) were groundouts.
That left the Brewers basically no margin for error for their pitching staff. Robert Gasser, freshly called up from Triple-A Nashville, took a big step forward from his previous outings. Gasser dealt with traffic on the bases in the 3rd and 4th innings, but was able to get out of those jams with nothing across.
However, in the 5th inning, Gasser allowed a leadoff home run to 9-hole hitter Victor Bericoto that just made it to the Giants bullpen. That was all the Giants got and it was all they needed on Wednesday night.
“He didn’t miss very many spots, at least I know during my at bats. I got like one pitch over the heart of the plate, that was about it. When you got command and movement like he does, it’s tough” Brice Turang said.
The Brewers were able to get into the Giants bullpen in the 8th and 9th innings and they had opportunities to scratch a run across. Pinch-hitter Jackson Chourio led off the 8th with a single. Then Blake Perkins pinch-hit for Sal Frelick and popped up a sacrifice bunt attempt.
“Perk didn’t get the bunt down, that’s inexcusable.” Pat Murphy said.
Luis Rengifo followed with a walk to put two runners on base. Murphy brought in Gary Sanchez to pinch-hit for David Hamilton. The Giants countered with right hander Keaton Winn. Winn got Sanchez to ground into a double play to end the inning.
Perkins is now 0-for-his-last-17 and his last hit came on May 10th. Sanchez is 4-for-his-last-36 dating back to April 29th.
Then in the 9th inning, facing Winn again with the top of the order due up, the Brewers had another great chance. Christian Yelich led off the inning with a double. Andrew Vaughn hit a ground ball to the right side to get Yelich to third base with less than two outs. Brice Turang couldn’t put the ball in the air and struck out. Then William Contreras grounded out to end the game.
It was a tough night for the Brewers offense, getting no-hit through six innings and having numerous opportunities late that they couldn’t cash in on.
Credit must also be given to Chad Patrick, who came on in relief of Gasser and threw four shutout innings to finish the game. He kept the Brewers in it and didn’t let that Giants lead grow.
Still, the Brewers fell short and need to bounce back in Thursday’s finale to secure the series win. They’ll have to do so against an old friend in Adrian Houser. Coleman Crow will start for the Crew.
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