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The Milwaukee Brewers are the curse of the American League.
With a 9-5 win over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum, the Brewers claimed their 12th consecutive win against AL clubs and improved their record in interleague play to 31-14, the best in the MLB.
Milwaukee’s day was dominated by small ball from start to finish. Jake Bauers hit a big two-run home run while six Brewers batters reached base at least twice.
Colin Rea picked up his 12th win in 6 2/3 innings to lead his team, and the Brewers improved their record to 16-6 when he starts.
MORE: Match report | MLB table | Brewers schedule
Devin Williams out due to shoulder problems
With a two-run lead entering the ninth inning, the Brewers did not have their closer Devin Williams in the bullpen to warm up, even though he had not pitched since Wednesday.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy said after the game that Williams was suffering from a left shoulder injury and would not be available.
“This morning he was a little bit tight in his left shoulder,” Murphy said. “He wasn’t feeling good. I don’t want to take any chances after everything he’s been through. When he got up this morning his left shoulder didn’t feel right. He was playing catch and when I watched him it just didn’t look right.”
Brewers tear it up in the ninth
Just like in the second inning, the Brewers struck by rallying the small balls.
Brice Turang opened the ninth inning with a double to right, moved to third base on an infield hit by Jackson Chourio and scored by hitting home a throw from third baseman Tyler Nevin. A passed ball brought Chourio home, making it 8-4, and a bloop hit by Rhys Hoskins increased the lead to five.
“Really important,” Murphy said. “Really important. Sticking with it, being relentless, hitting it – whatever you want to call it, that’s the key to a major league game.”
The Brewers finished the day with ten hits, including eight singles and seven walks.
Late trading results
With the bullpen heavily used from the last three games, the Brewers tried to get Colin Rea to pitch a seventh inning. The right-hander did not make it to the end, however, and was taken off with two outs and a runner on second base when the lineup changed for the fourth time.
Jared Koenig was brought out of the bullpen and allowed an RBI double down the right field line to pinch hitter Daz Cameron, but Koenig escaped with a 5-4 lead by striking out JJ Bleday after an intentional walk by Brent Rooker.
“There’s a reason their record is so good,” Murphy said of Oakland, which has won 55 games this year after winning 50 all of last season but still ranks last in the AL West. “There’s a reason they’re in every game and their second-half record is so good. It’s because they’re good and they fight and they like to play.”
Milwaukee extended its lead again in the eighth inning when Garrett Mitchell hit an RBI double to left with two outs.
A’s fight back with another home run against Rea
For the second time that afternoon, Rea fell victim to a long ball when Brent Rooker hit him for a two-run blast that cut the A’s deficit to 5-3 in the sixth inning. Rooker, one of the most underrated batters in the game, hit his 30th long ball of the season after hitting his 22nd double in his previous at-bat.
Rea has allowed multiple home runs in three of his last five starts.
Jake Bauers raids a fastball
Despite a long second inning, Oakland starter Joe Boyle had a chance to last five innings when he struck out the first two batters of the inning, then threw a 3-1 fastball up the middle to Jake Bauers.
Bauers hit with a runner on base, brought the ball across the plate at 98.4 mph and slammed it 102.4 mph and 399 feet into right-center field to give the Brewers a 5-1 lead.
“He hasn’t played much, but when he gets his chances, he helps us,” Murphy said of Bauers.
Boyle had just set a career high with his seventh strikeout of the game, getting William Contreras to get the second out in the fifth inning, but Willy Adames reached base for the third time in three plate appearances by hitting a two-out single to left. A few pitches later, Bauers extended the lead to four.
JJ Bleday burns Colin Rea, but the Brewers offense repeats itself
Brewers starter Colin Rea was one strike away from a quick, clean first inning when he made an error on an 0-2 cutter to JJ Bleday. The A’s outfielder took the middle-middle cutter and sent it 408 feet to right-center for his 18th home run of the season, giving Oakland a 1-0 lead.
But for the second day in a row, the Brewers’ offense gave the A’s starter a bad number after a solo home run in the first inning. After the Brewers hit two home runs on Friday night, it was death by a thousand cuts against Boyle on Saturday.
Two singles by Willy Adames and Rhys Hoskins with a walk by Jake Bauers in between filled the bases without anyone being struck out. Garrett Mitchell brought home a run on a weak tapper to second base, Blake Perkins put Milwaukee ahead with an infield RBI single, then Joey Ortiz and Jackson Chourio drew walks to extend the lead to 3-1.
Boyle had to make 40 throws in the second round after making 10 throws in the first round.
Brewer’s time, television, radio
The Brewers game begins at 3:07 p.m. on Saturday.
TV: Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620 and a state network
Brewers lineup
- Brice Turang2B
- Jackson Chourio LF
- William Contreras C
- Willy Adames SS
- Jake Bauer’s 1B
- Rhys Hoskins DH
- Garrett Mitchell RF
- Blake Perkins CF
- Joey Ortiz 3B
Athletics lineup
- Lawrence Butler RF
- Brent Roker DH
- JJ Bleday CF
- Miguel Andujar LF
- Shea Langeliers C
- Seth Brown 1B
- Tyler Nevin 3B
- Jake Gelof 2B
- Max Schümann SS
What is the Brewers’ record?
The Brewers are 74-54.
Brewers Schedule
Brewers at A’s, Sunday, 3:07 p.m.. Milwaukee RHP Frankie Montas (6-8, 4.57) vs. Oakland RHP Joey Estes (5-6, 4.44). Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.
