MILWAUKEE BREWERS

Having Gonzalez on their side instead of Harvey was good omen, and a lift, for Brewers

Tom Haudricourt
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Gio Gonzalez gives the Brewers six shutout innings against the Reds on Wednesday night, allowing just two hits and two walks to go along with five strikeouts.

In case you hadn’t noticed, baseball can be weirdly karmic at times.

On Wednesday night at Miller Park, the Brewers faced Cincinnati right-hander Matt Harvey, whom they unsuccessfully tried to acquire on Aug. 24 after being awarded a waiver claim two days earlier.

Had the Brewers worked out a deal for Harvey, they would not have swung a deal a week later with Washington for left-hander Gio Gonzalez, the pitcher they sent to the mound against the Reds.

You see where this is going, don’t you? On this particular night, it was better to have Gonzalez in a Brewers uniform than Harvey, who allowed seven runs in 5 1/3 innings.

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Behind Gonzalez’s six shutout innings and big home runs by Jesús Aguilar and Manny Piña, the Brewers romped over the Reds, 7-0, to avoid a losing home stand that would have done their playoff push no good whatsoever.

Instead, the Brewers were feeling good about themselves entering an off day Thursday before embarking on an absolutely huge six-day trip to Pittsburgh, where the dreaded Pirates await, and St. Louis, to face the team chasing them for the No. 1 wild-card spot in the National League.

With the Cubs losing in Arizona, the Brewers' pulled within 2 1/2 games of first place in the NL Central. With nine games remaining, that quest remains a long shot but the Brewers are in good standing in the wild-card race, three games ahead of St. Louis for home-field advantage and 4 1/2 over Colorado, which was swept in Los Angeles.

How effective was Gonzalez on this night? He was allowed to go past five innings, which for the Brewers these days is almost uncharted territory. No starter had gotten through six innings since Wade Miley on Sept. 4 in an 11-1 romp over the Cubs.

“Gio just kept throwing the ball well,” manager Craig Counsell said. “He got out of one little mini-jam in the second and was on cruise control.

“He has made three starts; two of them have been really solid. And we won his other start, too. So, we’ve given him the ball three times and we’ve won three games, so it’s working out well.”

Gonzalez, who was pitching on his 33rd birthday, has been the classic “change of scenery” player thus far after scuffling badly in the second half for the Nationals. He certainly has avoided any second-guessing over the Brewers’ failure to pick up Harvey, which seemed more a function of Cincinnati’s reluctance to part with him.

Afterward, Gonzalez gave credit to everyone else for the victory, including Hernán Pérez feeding him shrimp pasta for a pre-game meal, but there was satisfaction as well over a job well done.

“It’s been easy to play with these guys because they make you feel welcome,” he said. “There’s no added pressure; just go out there and play the best you can.

“I wanted to try to help out as much as I can… I’m grateful to get the second chance to pitch. The communication has been on-point. There’s an off day tomorrow, so there’s going to be at least some (birthday) cake to enjoy. This was a big win for us.”

Another good sign was the big offensive night from Aguilar, who blasted a three-run homer and drove in four runs to get to 103 RBI for the season. Aguilar carried the Brewers for long stretches in the first half, earning an all-star berth, but had fallen off dramatically in the second half.

Nevertheless, Aguilar has 33 homers and 103 RBI, not too shabby for a second-year player who began the season on the bench.

“It’s a great feeling,” Aguilar said. “We won tonight; that’s the most important thing. Now, we’ve got to keep going. We’ve got a lot of things to do. We want to get to the postseason. We’ve got to stay hot, and let’s see what happens.

“I was thinking about (100) RBI almost every night. To get it, I feel like I relaxed. It was an unbelievable feeling. I’m like a new guy.”

Nobody was feeling better than Piña, who has had a tough offensive season and recently lost playing time to backup Erik Kratz. Piña particularly had struggled with runners in scoring position, with only nine hits in 69 at-bats (.130).

He put all of that frustration behind him in one epic at-bat against Harvey in the sixth inning, fouling off seven consecutive two-strike pitches to stay alive. The duel went so long, Reds pitching coach Danny Darwin came out to give Harvey a breather.

But Harvey hung a slider on pitch No. 13 and Piña crushed it out to left for a three-run homer and 7-0 lead that allowed Counsell to rest most of his high-leverage relievers.

Reds starting pitcher Matt Harvey waits for Manny Pina (background) to finish his trip around the bases after the Brewers catcher hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning, ending Harvey's night.

“They gave him a break; I thought maybe they would try to trick me,” Piña said. “I was so focused. After they gave an intentional walk to ‘Moose’ (Mike Moustakas), I said, ‘I need to do something this at-bat.’ ”

So, here we go. The Brewers now need to figure out a way to beat the Pirates, who are 11-5 against them. Then it’s off to St. Louis for what figures to be the biggest series in many, many years.

“We go into an off day with a good feeling, ready to start an important road trip,” Counsell said. “We finished (the home stand) off the right way.

“We’ve got nine games to go. We’ve got a ways to go. There’s plenty of baseball left. There’s going to be some great moments; there’s going to be some tough moments. It’s all still ahead of us. There’s a lot left to happen; it really is.

“We put ourselves in a great position to enjoy the last 10 days of the season, and that’s what we’re planning on.”