With Josh Hader unavailable, Brewers bullpen lets one get away

WASHINGTON – Not that long ago, Brewers veteran Ryan Braun gave a perfect description of what it feels like to both win and lose games in the midst of a playoff race.

In essence, Braun said the victories feel even better and the losses hurt even more, this time of year.

Well, the Brewers’ loss Saturday night at Nationals Park hurt plenty. Ahead, 3-1, in the eighth inning, they waited out a two-hour rain delay, only to finally return to the field and blow the game to going-nowhere Washington, 5-4.

Because manager Craig Counsell uses his relief corps to cover so many innings, as most teams do in this age of “bullpening,” it was bound to spring some leaks eventually, which has happened in recent weeks. When the bullpen rarely blew leads in the early going, no one questioned how Counsell handled that group.

But, when bullpens blow late leads, the manager is usually considered an idiot. Just ask the folks on Twitter. And there’s one particular hot-button issue that many critics push when the Brewers lose late and Josh Hader didn’t appear in the game.

“Why didn’t Josh Hader pitch?” is what all of those folks want to know.

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Hader had pitched twice in the series in Cincinnati, on Wednesday and Thursday, and was given Friday off as the Brewers took a 4-1 victory over Washington. Counsell said the plan all along was that Hader would be rested Saturday as well.

“Josh is way up there in innings for relievers,” said Counsell, aware that Hader’s 67 innings for the season rank him fourth in the National League. “He can’t pitch every night; he’s not going to pitch every night.

“We have to give him proper rest to have him recover to pitch well the next time he pitches. That’s how it has to be. That’s how it’s always going to be.”

Of course, it would have been a moot point had veteran reliever Joakim Soria been able to record the third out in the bottom of the eighth. The first two batters went down in order and everything seemed great, even after Adam Eaton won a nine-pitch battle to line an opposite-field double to left.

But Trea Turner followed with a soft RBI single into left-center, making it a one-run game. Soria then said he was careful with the dangerous Bryce Harper, throwing three consecutive pitches way out of the strike zone despite being ahead in the count, 1-2.

Soria couldn’t regroup after that and also walked Anthony Rendon to load the bases. With left-handed hitting rookie sensation Juan Soto due up, Counsell summoned left-hander Dan Jennings, who also has been heavily used with three consecutive appearances and four out of five days.

“I was hoping to avoid Dan,” Counsell said. “Soria has two outs and nobody on base, and we’re looking pretty good. It just didn’t work out tonight.”

Soto hit a groundball single up the middle to deliver two runs and put Washington on top, 4-3. Jordan Lyles would come on to uncork a run-scoring wild pitch, which would loom large when Brewers pinch-hitter Tyler Saladino ripped a home run in the ninth.

Soria was pitching for the fourth consecutive day, so he obviously wasn’t considered to need rest. And Soria said he had no issue with pitching four games in a row. He had warmed up before the long rain delay but said that wasn’t a factor, either.

“As long as I feel good, I’m available,” he said. “That does not affect me in any way.

“They put together some good at-bats. They hit the ball where nobody was there. I didn’t want Harper to win the game, so I pitched to him with caution. Then I walked Rendon, too, and the rest is history. With two outs, I should have been able to get that out.”

So, on a night when the Brewers were in position to win for the fourth time in a row and ninth time in 12 games, which would have moved them into the top wild-card spot in the NL, they instead absorbed a brutal loss. Nothing ever comes easy for this team but letting this one get away was bad. Very bad.

Asked if it would be hard to bounce back in a day game Sunday, Soria said, “No, we are professionals. We need to put this in the past. It was a tough loss. Every loss is tough, regardless of the situation. But we are going to come back (Sunday) and win the game.”