Twins 4, Brewers 0: Offense lifeless again

A return home proved to be no help to the Milwaukee Brewers, who still show no signs of breaking out of their offensive funk.

With ageless Bartolo Colón setting the tone early, the Brewers managed to scrape together five singles and just six baserunners in being shut out by the Minnesota Twins, 4-0, Wednesday night at Miller Park.

Ryan Braun and Orlando Arcia each singled twice for Milwaukee's punchless attack, which, despite how poorly it's been performing since the all-star break, was shut out for the first time since June 13 and just the fourth time on the season.

And while the Central Division-leading Chicago Cubs lost again, the St. Louis Cardinals pulled even with the Brewers for second in the division, 1 1/2 games out.

Rookie Brandon Woodruff, who battled through six high-stress but shutout innings in his major-league debut Friday, trailed from the second inning on in his home debut. But it was again the bats that took the blame.

A one-out walk and two-out swinging bunt by Byron Buxton moved Eddie Rosario into scoring position for Jorge Polanco, who then slashed a double down the third-base line to give the Twins a quick 1-0 lead.

They tacked another run on in the third on a solo homer by Brian Dozier – his second in as many nights and fifth in his last six games.

With the way Milwaukee's offense has been going the last three-plus weeks, the two-run deficit was too much to overcome.

The Brewers managed to get runners on in each of the first four innings against the 44-year-old Colón – who entered with a 7.32 ERA – yet never threatened.

BOX SCORE:Twins 4, Brewers 0

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The closest they came to putting something together was in the second after Arcia singled and Eric Sogard walked with one out. Keon Broxton followed with a flyout to right, however, and Woodruff struck out in his first major-league at-bat.

Woodruff worked his way around a couple runners in the fifth but couldn't navigate his way out of the sixth after issuing a pair of walks. Jacob Barnes came on and quickly finished out the inning by retiring  Jorge Polanco, who was 8 for 9 in the series to that point.

Woodruff (1-1) finished one out shy of posting his second quality start, allowing three hits, two runs and three walks with two strikeouts over his 5 2/3-inning, 98-pitch outing.

Minnesota tacked on two more runs in the seventh against Barnes. He surrendered a two-out double to Dozier and a walk, then Joe Mauer sent a hot shot up the middle that caromed off Sogard's glove and allowed Dozier to score.

Miguel Sanó's double down the third-base line plated the fourth run.

Colón (2-1 with the Twins, 4-9 overall) got even better as the game progressed.

He retired seven in a row and 10 of 11 until Arcia's single to lead off the Brewers' seventh. Sogard bunted Arcia up to second, giving Milwaukee just its second runner in scoring position, but Broxton flew out and Jonathan Villar was called out on strikes.

That ended Colón's night at seven shutout innings, five hits and a walk with five strikeouts over 101 pitches.

The Brewers failed to reach in the eighth and ninth against a pair of Twins relievers, and managed just one runner over the final five innings. They finished 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

» Chase Anderson's next minor-league rehab start will come Sunday with an affiliate to be announced. Class AAA Colorado Springs and Class AA Biloxi are both playing at home at that time.

Counsell said Anderson, out since June 29 with a left oblique strain, would need a total of three starts before being cleared to return to the Brewers.

» Catcher Stephen Vogt, out since July 18 with a sprained left knee, is nearing a minor-league rehab assignment but will only be allowed to hit in the early going.

"For that injury, we've got to be careful with it," Counsell said. "He's going to have to go through more testing and consecutive days of feeling good before we'd consider letting him catch in a rehab game."

» Travis Shaw wasn't in attendance, and was replaced at third base by Hernán Pérez.

Counsell didn't elaborate on the reasons for Shaw's absence, but his daughter, Ryann, has been facing significant health challenges since being born in early June.

STAT SHEET

» Woodruff was pitching in his second game while Colón was pitching in his 527th. The 525-game gap was the largest between a Brewers starter and his opponent since Sept. 26, 2009, when Milwaukee's Braden Looper pitched in his 668th game and Philadelphia's Kyle Kendrick pitched in his 57th, a difference of 611 games. 

» Arcia has been one of the Brewers' lone consistent offensive contributors of late. He entered Wednesday having hit in six of his last seven games with a .440 average, two doubles, a triple, two homers and three RBI in that span.

TAKEAWAY

Just when it appears things can't get any worse offensively for the Brewers, they do. Five singles and never any threat of a comeback against Colón is not the way they envisioned opening their seven-game homestand.

RECORD

This year: 59-57 (31-28 home; 28-29 away)

Last year: 52-64

ATTENDANCE

Wednesday: 30,174

2017 total: 1,802,146 (30,545 avg.)

Last year: 1,713,294 (29,039 avg.)

NEXT GAME

Thursday: Brewers vs. Twins, 7:10 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Zach Davies (13-5, 4.18) vs. Minnesota LHP Dietrich Enns (MLB debut). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.