The Milwaukee Brewers had little issue coming through in the clutch during the first two contests of their four-game series against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Brewers were not as fortunate in the third contest, however, going 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position in a 3-2 setback on Wednesday.
Milwaukee will look to bounce back from that loss and secure a series victory against Arizona in the series finale on Thursday afternoon.
William Contreras belted his second homer in as many games to draw the Brewers within 3-2 in the eighth inning. Milwaukee attempted to be aggressive on the basepaths in the ninth inning, but Andruw Monasterio’s bid to leg out a double was unsuccessful — courtesy of a strong throw by left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
“Yeah, Mona made an early decision and went with it,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “Guys make aggressive moves like that and they’re out, that’s going to happen. So, it’s unfortunate, but I support it.”
Milwaukee’s setback came hours after the club placed All-Star closer Trevor Megill on the 15-day injured list due to a right flexor strain.
“Nothing too serious,” Megill said. “We’ve been grinding through it for the last week, and 34 pitches the other day ‘wasn’t it.’ So we’re taking a step back and get this right for the postseason.”
Megill has recorded 30 saves and a 2.54 ERA in a career-high 49 appearances this season.
Abner Uribe and former Diamondbacks reliever Shelby Miller could be summoned to close out the Thursday game if needed.
While the closing duties for the series finale are up in the air, the responsibility of starting for Milwaukee goes to veteran left-hander Jose Quintana (10-4, 3.32 ERA).
Quintana won his first three starts of the month before settling for a pair of hard-luck no-decisions in his past two outings. He has yielded just nine runs in 28 2/3 innings (2.83 ERA) during August.
Quintana overcame a sluggish start against the San Francisco Giants on Friday in which he surrendered a homer in each of the first two innings. Those were the only two hits and only two runs he permitted in 5 1/3 innings.
Quintana, 36, is 1-2 with a 6.13 ERA in eight career appearances (all starts) against the Diamondbacks. He won at Arizona on April 14 after throwing seven shutout innings.
Among the batters likely to take aim at Quintana, Blaze Alexander is looking to build momentum after launching a two-run homer in the sixth inning on Wednesday.
Although he is just 1-for-15 over his past four games, Alexander has done plenty to impress Arizona manager Torey Lovullo through his work ethic.
“Blaze has definitely been growing up right before our very eyes,” Lovullo said. “He was tooled up, had everything right in front of him, but I think at the end of the day to become a complete baseball player, there was some development that needed to take place more physically as well as emotionally.
“He gets very revved up, and to slow the game down to be able to dissect what’s happening and do his job, that’s something that we’ve seen emerging a lot this year.”
Arizona will turn to right-hander Nabil Crismatt (1-0, 1.00 ERA) to start the series finale.
Crismatt scattered four hits and overcame three walks in four scoreless innings in relief of opener Jalen Beeks in the Diamondbacks’ 10-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
Crismatt, 30, has a 4.82 ERA without a decision in six career appearances against the Brewers, all in relief.
–Field Level Media
