Contreras takes a beating -- but stays in -- as Brewers lose to Giants

SAN FRANCISCO -- Even on a particularly disheartening night, Brewers star William Contreras' sense of humor was intact.

The same could not be said for Contreras’ protective cup, which shattered when Willy Adames’ foul tip found the wrong spot in the seventh inning of the Brewers’ 4-2 loss to the Giants at Oracle Park. That came an inning after Contreras was thrown out at third base at a pivotal moment of what was a scoreless game, and appeared to briefly retreat to the clubhouse.

In the wake of those scares, it was to be determined late Wednesday night whether Contreras would play Thursday’s series finale against the Giants. Since it’s a day game after a night game on the West Coast at the start of a long trip, it would be a fairly straightforward call for most catchers to let the backup play. Contreras, though, is different than most catchers.

“That broke my cup,” he said of Adames’ foul ball, “but I feel good. Everything’s there.”

And the injury concern the inning before?

“A cramp or something, but I’m good now,” Contreras said.

So if there was any silver lining for the Brewers, it was that their two-time club MVP ended the night healthy -- or at least as healthy as a catcher can be with nearly a month of regular-season baseball in the books. That was no sure thing in the middle of the sixth.

With Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta and San Francisco’s Logan Webb locked in a scoreless pitchers’ duel, Contreras started something by hitting a one-out single. When Sal Frelick followed with another single to right, Contreras tried for third.

It was an aggressive call, and the wrong one, as it turned out.

“He was obviously disappointed. That wasn’t great baserunning right there,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He didn’t have a good secondary [lead] and was kind of indecisive whether to go to third. That happens, but it changed a lot.”

After being tagged out by Giants third baseman Matt Chapman, Contreras was holding his left side as he trotted off the field before briefly disappearing down the steps leading toward the clubhouse with a member of the athletic training staff. Backup catcher Eric Haase warmed up Peralta before the bottom of the sixth until Contreras emerged to take his place behind home plate.

At the same time, the game turned. Adames and Jung Hoo Lee singled off Peralta to start the inning before Chapman came back from an 0-2 count to walk. Peralta exited in favor of Nick Mears, who was burned by one well-placed hit from Wilmer Flores, then let down by a Brewers defense that has won each of the last two team Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, but is having trouble on the infield in the cold, damp air this week.

Two Brewers miscues grew the deficit from 2-0 to 4-0. The first came with one out, when Rawlings Platinum Glove Award winner Brice Turang fumbled a would-be double play ball. Two batters later, the Giants added more insurance when Joey Ortiz’s off-balance throw on an infield hit ticked off the glove of first baseman Rhys Hoskins for an error on the shortstop.

Those two extra runs proved the difference. Turang’s two-run double in the ninth – the only extra-base hit for either team all night – made it a 4-2 game and put the tying runner in scoring position, but Giants reliever Camilo Doval retired Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich to end the game.

“We have to play defense,” said Contreras, who did his part by throwing out Lee trying to steal third base in the seventh -- Contreras’ MLB-leading eighth runner caught stealing this season. “We have to make the plays to be better, to win games. We have a defensive team. We have to make [plays].”

Said Peralta: “It’s a little surprising. Last year we won the Gold Glove as a team and that means we have a very good defense. For some reason, we’ve been struggling a little bit for the last couple of games. They’ll probably get some work and clean that up.”

Whether Contreras is part of that effort on Thursday remained to be seen. The Brewers are getting healthier as a pitching staff, with righty Tobias Myers set to come off the injured list on Thursday. They can ill afford to lose their star catcher with some kind of hip or rib injury.

“We’ll see what it is,” Murphy said. “We hope that it’s nothing more serious than it locked up on him a little bit.”