Brewers 4, Nationals 1: After trading for Gio Gonzalez, Brewers unleash home-run attack
WASHINGTON – Just as the Milwaukee Brewers’ game against Washington was about to begin Friday night, news broke that they had traded for Gio Gonzalez.
That deal certainly made it easy for the Nationals' veteran lefty to change teams. It’s not far from the home clubhouse to the visiting clubhouse at Nationals Park.
The Brewers had business to conduct, however, and some payback to deliver to Washington starter Tanner Roark, who took the loss in Milwaukee's 4-1 victory. The last time the Brewers saw Roark, he was shutting them out for eight innings at Miller Park in a 7-3 victory on July 25.
This time, the Brewers unleashed an early bombs-away attack on Roark, with each home run longer than the one before. It started in the first inning when Travis Shaw drilled a two-run shot to center field with two down, his 27th of the season.
Washington responded with a run in the bottom of the inning but it could have been much worse. The Nationals loaded the bases with no outs on hits by Adam Eaton and Trea Turner and a walk to Bryce Harper but Jhoulys Chacín limited the damage to Anthony Rendon’s run-scoring grounder.
With one down in the Brewers second, catcher Erik Kratz launched a no-doubter to left field, his fifth of the season. Jesús Aguilar matched that blast with an even longer shot to left with one down in the third, No. 31 on the season, to make it a 4-1 game.
BOX SCORE: Brewers 4, Nationals 1
RELATED: Brewers trade for left-hander Gio Gonzalez to bolster pitching staff
RELATED: Brewers acquire reliever Xavier Cedeño from White Sox
RELATED: Haudricourt: Brewers pitchers must pick up pace
MLB: Live scoreboard, box scores, standings, statistics
A nice defensive play, and as it turned out, some sleight of hand by Kratz, prevented the Nationals from trimming a run off that lead. Juan Soto led off with a bunt hit, then moved to second on a walk to Ryan Zimmerman and to third on a fly to right by Matt Wieters.
Soto tried to score on Wilmer Difo’s chopper to first base but Aguilar threw home and Kratz made a swipe tag for the out. Replays showed Kratz tagged Soto with an empty mitt, with the ball in his bare hand, but also indicated Soto didn’t touch the plate, and the Nationals did not challenge the call.
Chacin (14-5) has been the rock of the Brewers' rotation and he continued to excell, allowing only six hits and one run over 6 1/3 innings. But the victory was anything but a cinch when the Nationals loaded the bases in the ninth inning with one out against de facto closer Jeremy Jeffress.
Pitching with rain coming down heavily, Jeffress struck out Bryce Harper on a 3-2 splitter, the eighth pitch of the at-bat, and induced Anthony Rendon to ground into a force at second.
In acquiring Gonzalez, the Brewers obviously are hoping a change of scenery does wonders, as it did when the Cubs traded with Texas for veteran lefty Cole Hamels. Gonzalez, 32, is coming off a brutal August in which he went 1-4 with a 7.47 ERA in six starts. Since the all-star break, he is 1-5 with a 6.55 ERA in eight outings.
The Brewers traded two Class A Wisconsin players for Gonzalez – infielder Gilbert Lara and first baseman/catcher K.J. Harrison. Lara was a bonus-baby signing out of the Dominican Republic in 2014 whose career quickly stalled. Harrison was a third-round draft pick in 2017 out of Oregon State.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
PIÑA FEELING MUCH BETTER: Catcher Manny Piña, hit on the left side of the face with a pitch Wednesday in Cincinnati, was feeling much better. He got five stitches on the inside of his mouth but the swelling was down and he was able to eat normally. “Manny’s available,” manager Craig Counsell said. “I’m glad that we didn’t have to use him yesterday. He’s considerably better today. He’s feeling good and on track, talking better. The swelling went down a little bit, you can tell.”
SCHERZER WON’T PITCH SUNDAY: The Brewers caught a break when the Nationals opted to move ace Max Scherzer back a day, from the Sunday series finale to Monday against St. Louis – a team they are battling for the top wild-card spot. Instead, Washington is starting Jefry Rodriguez (2-1, 4.54). The Brewers do have to face another tough pitcher, Stephen Strasburg, on Saturday, however. “This is a good team,” Counsell said. “You look at their lineup. It’s a really big challenge. Strasburg is a tough pitcher.”
ROUGH MONTH FOR THAMES: August was a brutal month for Eric Thames. In 19 games (only 10 starts), he batted .098 (4 for 41) with a .159 OBP and .403 OPS, with two homers and five RBI. In 41 at-bats, he struck out a whopping 25 times. Accordingly, his playing time has decreased, especially with Jesús Aguilar becoming the regular first baseman and plenty of depth on the roster. “Ryan (Braun) swung the bat really well coming out of the all-star break,” Counsell. “That’s what started the change in playing time (for Thames). He hasn’t been productive. But I told Eric that this happened last August, when he struggled a little bit (.691 OPS) but then in September he was a really important player for us and had a big month (1.004 OPS). For home-run dependent players, it’s going to be streaky.”
UPON FURTHER REVIEW, NBD: Counsell said he’s not bothered by the Brewers’s woeful 5-22 record in replay challenges: "You don't get penalized for getting replays wrong. There's no penalty in getting it wrong." You do lose your challenges for the rest of game but Counsell said that rarely comes into play. “We think that’s an appropriate risk to take,” he said. Counsell also said the 5-22 record in challenges means “the umpires have got a lot of calls right. We have no control over whether umpires are getting calls right or wrong against us.”
REINFORCEMENTS ON THE WAY: Counsell said some September call-ups would arrive Saturday but didn’t say who. The interesting position is catcher, where the Brewers would like to have a No. 3. Colorado Springs catcher Jacob Nottingham is on the 40-man roster but just recovered from a broken wrist. Either Jett Bandy or Christian Bethancourt would have to be added to the 40-man.
RECORD
This year: 76-60
Last year: 71-65
COMING UP
Saturday: Brewers at Nationals, 6:05 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Chase Anderson (9-7, 4.04) vs. Washington RHP Stephen Strasburg (7-7, 4.15). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.