PHOENIX -- The Brewers had Corbin Burnes beat on Saturday night and saw it slip away in the bottom of the ninth. They had a lead against Zac Gallen in the sixth inning on Sunday and saw that slip away, too.
Now, on the heels of a 5-2 loss at Chase Field, it doesn¡¯t get any easier. Reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal presents the next challenge for the Brewers on Monday night in Milwaukee. It¡¯s a fastball and a changeup with extreme separation, and they look the same to a hitter coming out of the hand.
¡°It¡¯s almost like playing roulette,¡± Brewers third-base coach Jason Lane said. ¡°You bet on black or red and then hope it¡¯s not green.¡±
But on Sunday, that was a problem for another day.
The D-backs proved more than enough trouble for the moment.
The Brewers bounced back from Saturday¡¯s ninth-inning meltdown when William Contreras hit a two-run home run in the first inning as part of a flurry of loud, early contact for Milwaukee hitters. But Gallen settled in and got through the sixth inning. That was just about the time bad things started happening for the Crew.
The D-backs scored one run on a wild pitch in the fifth inning as Freddy Peralta, plainly running out of gas, was asked for more because the bullpen was thin. Arizona scored another in the sixth after Tim Tawa¡¯s sacrifice fly off Peralta was caught, but almost wasn¡¯t due to a collision between Jackson Chourio and Garrett Mitchell. With the game tied at 2, the Brewers gave the seventh to reliever Bryan Hudson, one of the few high-leverage options available for the day. He was burned in part by a balk for which neither Hudson nor manager Pat Murphy got a satisfying explanation.
It all added up to a second straight missed opportunity to beat an ace.
¡°When you have the lead against two of the best pitchers in the game, you¡¯re expecting to get the win,¡± Peralta said. ¡°But sometimes things happen. The bullpen couldn¡¯t finish it, unfortunately, yesterday and today.
¡°Something I can tell you is we can probably get better from this. We¡¯re going to face a lot of good teams ahead, and they are a great team.¡±
Now comes Skubal, who is scheduled to start for the Tigers in Monday¡¯s opener of a three-game series at American Family Field. He led the Majors with 228 strikeouts last season while going 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA, and has a 3.78 ERA through his first three starts this season.
It¡¯s another tall ask for a Brewers offense that has yet to fire on all cylinders. Run-producers Christian Yelich and Rhys Hoskins each have an OPS south of .600, as does Joey Ortiz. Chourio has yet to walk in 73 plate appearances, and while he¡¯s been hitting, he saw a 14-game hitting streak snapped Sunday.
Of course, they all realize that the Brewers are riding a run of imposing opposing aces, which doesn¡¯t end with Skubal. Jack Flaherty is scheduled to start against Milwaukee on Tuesday night.
¡°It¡¯s hard not to notice,¡± Brewers hitting coach Connor Dawson said. ¡°They know who Corbin Burnes is, who Zac Gallen is, Skubal. It¡¯s inevitable that it¡¯s going to creep into your mind. What we try to do is make sure it doesn¡¯t and treat it the same every day.¡±
¡°Hitters tend to not look ahead because what¡¯s in front of you today is such a daunting task,¡± Lane said. ¡°I think the way you navigate it is that, with each guy and each situation, you have to give something up to cover something else. For each hitter, figuring out that plan is so important.¡±
The Brewers hope there is a bright side to their current ordeal. Against Burnes, they showed they could scratch out a couple of runs with timely hitting. Against Gallen, they showed the threat of the longball with Contreras, who hit three home runs on the six-game road trip after hitting none in the Brewers¡¯ first three series.
¡°When you go through a gauntlet like this and you get through it and you have some success, it can give you some confidence,¡± Lane said. ¡°You navigate some walks and hits, it can propel you confidence-wise, which is so much what hitting is. And then it¡¯s all totally magnified early in the season.¡±
Unfortunately for the Brewers, that cuts both ways. They had a pair of aces on the ropes this weekend, and couldn¡¯t close out a victory in either game.
¡°If you don¡¯t beat No. 1s, you¡¯re not going to have a good season,¡± Murphy said ahead of Burnes¡¯ start on Saturday. ¡°You¡¯ve got to learn how to beat No. 1s.¡±