Brewers fail to do the little things against Cardinals
As well as Chase Anderson pitched Saturday night, he thinks the Brewers lost because he didn’t get a bunt down.
Imagine that.
It was a weird game in so many ways as the St. Louis Cardinals went 0 for 14 with runners in scoring position yet still pushed four runs across to win, 4-1, at Miller Park.
The Brewers didn’t help themselves by committing two outfield errors that allowed runs to score, but manager Craig Counsell had it right when he said, “The bottom line is we scored one run.”
And that run came via the first batter of the game – Jonathan Villar, who opened the first inning with a single and scored on Travis Shaw’s one-out double. After that, St. Louis starter Lance Lynn settled in, as he often does against the Brewers (9-3, 2.31 earned run average for his career).
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So, in a 1-1 game in the fifth inning, Counsell called for a safety squeeze with Anderson at the plate with a 2-2 count and speedy Keon Broxton on third base. Counsell isn’t big on bunting but made an exception with a pitcher at the plate and Lynn giving little quarter.
Anderson bunted through a biting sinker from Lynn and Broxton strayed too far down the line, getting caught in a rundown for the third out. Had he stayed close to the bag when Anderson whiffed, the Brewers would have had another chance with Villar coming to the plate.
Remember, it was not a suicide squeeze.
“It was a safety squeeze,” Broxton confirmed. “I was already on the move, kind of being aggressive. If Chase would have got it down, I would have scored. The ball was out of Yadi (Molina’s) hand so quick, the only thing I could really do is run home and hope for a bad throw or something like that.
“Executed right, it's a great play, I score easily and it’s a different ballgame. But stuff happens.”
BOX SCORE: Cardinals 4, Brewers 1
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Though it was Broxton who strategically erred by coming too far down the line, Anderson took the blame for not getting the bunt down.
“I feel bad about hanging Keon out to dry,” said Anderson, who battled for six innings to hold the Cardinals to an unearned run. “If I get that bunt down, that changes the perception of the game. You’ve got a 2-1 lead if I get the bunt down and I think I come out for the seventh inning.
“It was tough to bunt, for sure, but with two strikes I had to bunt anything close. I have a better chance to get the bunt down than getting a base hit, as a pitcher. We work on our bunting a lot. I’ve got to do better than that. I think we win that game if I get that bunt down, so I take that one on me.”
Actually, there were several more flash points that decided the game, including the two outfield errors. Reliever Carlos Torres, still seeking the consistency that made him the go-to man in the bullpen last season, missed badly with a pitch in the seventh that pinch-hitter Aledmys Diaz whacked out of the park to snap a 1-1 tie.
The Brewers weren’t exactly clutch at the plate, either, going 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position. Their last shot came in the eighth when Shaw popped out against left-hander Brett Cecil with the bases loaded.
The Brewers have absorbed some late losses in the first three weeks of the season, leaving their relief corps with a 1-7 record despite some fine work in many of the victories. That mark is indicative of the number of tight games they have played and how many slipped away.
“It’s just grinding out the highs and lows,” Torres said. “That’s the way it was last year, too. We played a lot of one-run games. If we win more of those one-run ballgames than we did last year, we’ll be in a good spot.
“So, back to the grind tomorrow.”