Hiura, Houser stumble in blow to playoff bid

Under different circumstances, the Brewers could chalk up nights like Wednesday as learning experiences for Keston Hiura in his first full season in the big leagues and Adrian Houser in his first full year as a big league starter.

Under their current circumstances, however, there is no time for growing pains. The Brewers need victories, and a 6-1 loss to the Reds, marred by Hiura’s costly error and another so-so start for Houser -- not to mention another pitching gem by Cincinnati’s Trevor Bauer, this time on short rest -- represented a blow to Milwaukee’s postseason hopes.

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The Brewers fell to 0-9 this season in games when a win would advance them above .500 while dropping out of the postseason picture. All that remains of Milwaukee’s regular season is a five-game series in St. Louis.

For Hiura, it’s a chance to finish the regular season on a high note. For Houser, it’s either a relief outing on Sunday or fingers crossed for a chance to pitch in the postseason.

Is it safe to say Houser is dissatisfied with his regular season?

“Yeah, definitely, 2020 didn’t go the way I planned or hoped,” he said. “I’m definitely not satisfied with it. There’s going to be a lot of work going into this offseason.”

Houser was 0-6 with a 6.70 ERA in his final nine regular season starts of 2020 after posting a 0.75 ERA through his first two starts. But there’s reason for optimism right in front of him on Thursday, when the Brewers send Corbin Burnes to the mound in St. Louis to put the finishing touches on his NL Cy Young Award résumé. After compiling an 8.82 ERA in 49 innings in 2019, Burnes has a 1.77 ERA in 56 innings entering his final start, when he’ll need a gem to reacquire the lead from Bauer (1.73 ERA) in the race for the NL ERA title.

“I think we'd all love for guys to go A, B, C, D and get better,” Brewers pitching coach Chris Hook said. “It just doesn't go that way. It's not linear. We've heard that over and over again. This game is teaching people lessons, things they need to change, things they need to adjust to.

“I feel good about what Adrian has done. The stuff is really close to what it was last year. Obviously, the luck has not always been on his side. But there are some underlying things that he's doing really, really well. Again, I think it's part of the game, teaching players how to play this game better.”

The same goes for Hiura, who spent the early mornings of Spring Training on the practice field working on his throwing mechanics with Brewers infield coordinator Bob Miscik. For much of this season, Hiura held his own in the field, but a recent spate of wildness has coincided with a cold spell at the plate. Hiura hasn’t had multiple hits for 11 straight games, and he has multiple strikeouts in four of his past five games, including Wednesday’s 0-for-4, two-strikeout night.

Thursday unraveled on Hiura and Houser in the bottom of the fifth, when the Brewers were still in the game, at 3-1, despite homers from Joey Votto and Jesse Winker off Houser.

With one out, Hiura threw away a routine grounder from Nick Castellanos for Hiura’s sixth error, one off the dubious NL lead for a second baseman. With Votto due next, it meant the end of Houser’s night in favor of left-hander Alex Claudio, who walked Votto and surrendered a three-run home run to Eugenio Suárez to make it a 6-1 game.

“He's had some throwing issues of late, which has popped up from time to time,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said of Hiura. “He made a bad throw tonight, plain and simple.”

The Brewers learned a lesson about spotting Cincinnati free baserunnners. Every one of the Reds’ runs in the series came via the long ball.

Now, the Brewers must win some games of their own. There is no more room for error.

“We're going to have to be at least .500 to be in contention,” Counsell said. “If you get over .500, then you're looking pretty good. It's as simple as that. I think it's safe to say we have to win at least three and probably four to assure getting in.”