You better believe the Brewers and their fans are hoping this is the low point. It’s ugly out there.
After coming into today having been swept by the Pirates in yesterday’s doubleheader, and having lost five in a row overall and ceded control of the NL Central to the Cubs, the Brewers looked to close out the first half with a win over the Pirates.
And, in the bottom of the 9th, it looked like it would happen. With a two run lead and Corey Knebel closing, what could go wrong?
Well, the Pirates answered that by going single, single, walk to load the bases with nobody out. But then the Brewers got the desperately needed double play, which plated a run, but got them within an out of winning the game. That’s when David Freese did this:
David Freese leads the club with 7 pinch hits and this one was clutch. pic.twitter.com/kyAf3rwMoa
— Pirates (@Pirates) July 15, 2018
So the Brewers had blown the lead, and the game went to the 10th. But the Brewers scored in the top of the 10th! Surely they were going to hold on this time!
… nope:
Driving baseballs in the pouring rain.@JBell_19 with the Walk Off lighting strike. #RaiseIt pic.twitter.com/4Zewe5gZ4w
— Pirates (@Pirates) July 15, 2018
So much ouch there. The fact that they had the lead and didn’t just lose it, they lost the game. The fact that Lorenzo Cain clearly misread how hard the ball was hit coming off the bat (the rain didn’t help, I’m sure). And then the fact that the throw to the plate was there in PLENTY of time to get the winning run … but the catcher totally biffed on receiving it.
That’s gotta be one of the Brewers’ worst losses of the season, and it comes to close out the first half at the worst possible time in their season. They will now go into the break likely 2.5 games back, somewhere they haven’t been since April 18.
I’ll let Brewers super fan Kato Kaelin sum up the feelings:
Times are tough in Milwaukee when Matheny is looking like a good option to Kato. pic.twitter.com/1JDagSd9NV
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) July 15, 2018