SAN FRANCISCO — Caleb Durbin provided another feel-good moment in his first week as a major-leaguer.
But as the sun set as the evening went on at Oracle Park on April 21, so did the Milwaukee Brewers.
Quinn Priester struggled with his command in an abbreviated start, his defense bungled balls behind him and the bats, save for Durbin’s blast, went quiet into the night as the Brewers opened up a 10-game road trip with a 5-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants.
Defensive miscues add up
Milwaukee sent itself to defeat with a series of small, self-inflicted paper cuts.
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“I think it added up,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “It added up, for sure.”
BOX SCORE:Giants 5, Brewers 2
How uncharacteristically sloppy was the showing from a team predicated on its defense? Let Murphy walk you through it.
“We dropped a ball,” the Brewers manager said. “We mishandled a couple of other ones. We were slowing turning balls. (Caleb) Durbin’s throw from third to second was up and not conducive to turning a double play. (Rhys) Hoskins dropping a ball at first. Joey (Ortiz) bobbling a ball that’s a double play. You can’t do those things and give teams extra outs.”
The list of plays the Brewers didn’t make extended even beyond Murphy’s initial laundry list.
It started with shortstop Joey Ortiz’s ill-advised decision to try and get an out at second base, throwing behind the base runner with nobody out in the second, when he had an easy play at first. The runner was safe at second and the Brewers got no outs on the play, which ended up contributing to the Giants scoring a run.
Then came right fielder Jackson Chourio’s throw home later in the inning when he had Heliot Ramos dead to rights at home if could make an on-target, strong throw, but he instead uncorked a heave 30 feet up the third-base line.
That’s not all, either. Hoskins, as Murphy mentioned, whiffed on a throw in the fifth inning to allow a run to score — though the error was charged to Brice Turang in a befuddling decision from the official scorer.
Turang, one batter later, couldn’t cleanly corral a hard-hit grounder that would have been a potential double play.
The Brewers cost themselves another run by not turning another double play in the seventh on a grounder off the bat of Willy Adames to Durbin. Murphy was critical of Durbin’s throw from third to get the lead runner at second, which lacked zip and was up-and-away to Turang.
To cap the night of defensive woes, center fielder Garrett Mitchell wasn’t able to get off a strong nor accurate throw on a shallow fly ball in the bottom of the eighth. With two outs, LaMonte Wade Jr. tagged on the play and scored with ease as Mitchell was slow getting the throw off and Hoskins had to cut the ball off because it was off-line.
“We easily should’ve thrown out the guy at the plate,” Murphy said. “It wasn’t a tough play and Garrett didn’t get a great grip, I guess. That’s another defensive play that didn’t happen that led to a run.”
Craig Yoho makes MLB debut
On his first day as a big-leaguer, Brewers prospect Craig Yoho got in the game in relief, pitching the eighth inning. The right-hander allowed one run on one hit while notching his first MLB strikeout.
Murphy advocated that Yoho deserved a better fate than the one he received. In addition to Mitchell being unable to throw out Wade at home, Yoho was also squeezed by home plate umpire Alex MacKay, who drew the ire of Murphy and catcher William Contreras as the night proceeded, and his lone hit was an opposite-field grounder that Hoskins couldn’t make a play on.
“I thought he was good,” Murphy said. “He deserved much better. He had the kid struck out and we didn’t get the call. He gave up an opposite-field ground ball off the bag that led to a run.”
Offense goes silent after Durbin goes deep
The lone bright spot for the Brewers was Durbin’s two-run shot in the second. He connected with a 1-0 fastball from Giants starter Robbie Ray in the top of the second inning and sent it out to left field to put Milwaukee up, 2-0, on a night that didn’t figure to have much scoring with damp conditions setting in.
But that was about it for the Brewers offense, which ran into some hard-hit outs but ultimately had just one hit over the final six innings. Hayden Birdsong relieved Ray and threw three no-hit innings with four strikeouts.
Giants come back to grab lead in sixth
Grant Anderson’s solid work out of the bullpen has landed him into leverage spots for manager Pat Murphy, but it didn’t continue into Monday. The right-hander left a first-pitch sinker over the middle of the plate that Wilmer Flores crushed to left for a go-ahead solo homer with two outs in the sixth.
Quinn Priester unable to work past four innings
Brewers right-hander Quinn Priester wasn’t able to deliver a third crisp outing in as many starts since being acquired. He allowed four walks through four-plus innings Monday, facing two batters in the fifth inning but allowing both to reach.
Priester battled enough to only allow two runs, though, with some help from Nick Mears who escaped the fifth the game still tied.
What time is the Brewers game?
Time: 8:45 p.m. CT
What channel is the Brewers game on today? TV, stream
TV channel: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin
Brewers lineup
- Brice Turang 2B
- Jackson Chourio RF
- Christian Yelich DH
- William Contreras C
- Rhys Hoskins 1B
- Sal Frelick CF
- Joey Ortiz SS
- Isaac Collins LF
- Caleb Durbin 3B
Giants lineup
- Mike Yastrzemski RF
- Willy Adames SS
- Jung Hoo Lee CF
- Matt Chapman 3B
- Heliot Ramos LF
- Lamonte Wade Jr. 1B
- Wilmer Flores DH
- Patrick Bailey C
- Tyler Fitzgerald 2B
Brewers schedule
Brewers at Giants, 8:45 p.m. April 22. Milwaukee LHP José Quintana (2-0, 0.71) vs. San Francisco TBA. TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers at Giants, 8:45 p.m. April 23. Milwaukee RHP Freddy Peralta (2-1, 1.91) vs. San Francisco TBA. TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers at Giants, 2:45 p.m. April 24. Milwaukee RHP Tobias Myers (season debut) vs. San Francisco TBA. TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
