3 takeaways as Crew drops opener to Twins

MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers scored nine runs one day, and two runs the next.

With the offense still searching for consistency, Adrian Houser paid a high price for a single misfire.

Houser hung a third-inning changeup to Twins cleanup hitter Eddie Rosario with the bases loaded, and Rosario cleaned them up, smashing a grand slam that sent the Brewers to a 4-2 loss at Miller Park on Monday night. The Twins snapped a four-game losing streak while the Brewers lost for the fourth time in five 2020 home games.

? Box score

“I wish I could get that one pitch back,” Houser said. “But you live and learn and move on to the next one.”

Here are three takeaways from the Crew's series-opening loss:

1. A lot to like about the young pitching
It was another tandem game for the Brewers, with Houser and Freddy Peralta combining for 12 strikeouts while covering all nine innings. Peralta accounted for eight strikeouts over four scoreless innings to become the eighth pitcher in Brewers history to produce at least eight strikeouts in a relief outing -- and the second to do it in the last three days. Corbin Burnes fanned eight Reds in 5 1/3 innings on Saturday.

Of Peralta on Monday, Brewers manager Craig Counsell said, “I thought he was brilliant. It's one of the best games we've seen him pitch.”

Houser was charged with four runs on six hits -- with all of the runs and three of the hits in that fateful third inning, when he hit Nelson Cruz with a first-pitch sinker before Rosario slammed a first-pitch changeup. Entering the night, Houser had allowed six hits and only one run in a pair of starts covering 12 innings.

“He has evolved so much,” pitching coach Chris Hook said. “The sinker has gotten better. He has made some subtle changes on the mound from three years ago that help him get through that pitch, especially to left-handed hitters. He knows himself really well right now. I think it takes some time to know you belong at the big league level. He showed us that last year and came in with a good base. We’re just sharpening that base.”

2. Reconstructed lineup just can’t get going
The Brewers went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position on Monday, starting with a trio of fruitless at-bats in the first inning. Eric Sogard kept his on-base percentage over .400 at the time with a leadoff walk, Keston Hiura singled, and the Brewers were in business against Twins starter (and ground-ball machine) Randy Dobnak with the heart of the order coming up. Dobnak is the kind of sinker-slider pitcher prone to getting better as the game goes on, so this was as good a chance as any for the Brewers to build upon Sunday’s nine-run outburst against the Reds.

Instead, the rally fizzled. Dobnak got Christian Yelich to swing over a breaking ball for a groundout that pushed the baserunners to second and third. Justin Smoak, coming off three hits on Sunday, struck out (he has 20 strikeouts his first 40 plate appearances batting as a left-handed hitter this season). And Avisaíl García put a charge into a line drive to deep center field, but speedy Twins outfielder Byron Buxton ran it down to end the threat. García has three hits in his last 22 at-bats.

“We’ve got to score in the first inning,” Counsell said. “Even second and third with one out, there’s an opportunity for an easy run, and that’s a place we’ve got to just put one on the board. At this point, we have not done a good job in the first inning when starters are uncomfortable a little bit.”

Playing lately without Lorenzo Cain, who elected not to play the rest of the season, and Ryan Braun, who has been on the injured list, the Brewers have scored one first-inning run in 14 games this season.

They did put a run on the board in the second, but Dobnak eventually settled in to deliver five effective innings, retiring 10 of the final 11 men he faced.

3. Luis Urías could be fun
The infielder made a Brewers debut that was a long time in the making, coming off the COVID-19 injured list to start the game at second base and finish it at shortstop. He showed quality bat control when he punched an opposite-field single through the right side in his first Milwaukee at-bat, then motored home on Orlando Arcia’s second-inning double. In the field, Urías was at times acrobatic, including a beautiful spinning play to rob Ehire Adrianza of a hit leading off the fourth inning, but he also committed an error, misplaying a topspin line drive in the fifth.

The Brewers expect to play Urías at both middle-infield positions and at third base in a pinch. For a 6-8 team seeking a spark, he’ll get a good look.

“It was great,” Urías said. “You know, it’s been a tough year, but finally I’m here with the team. I’m very excited to be here in Milwaukee.”