Missed opportunities doom Washington Nationals in loss to Brewers
By Chris Lacey
A great game by Milwaukee’s Aaron Hill, highlighted by his late home run and missed chances by the Washington Nationals, led to them losing 5-2 to the Brewers.
Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez wasn’t great but didn’t have a terrible outing either. He kept his team in the game. The offense failed to do their part, as they were unable to capitalize on scoring opportunities, which led to a 5-2 loss.
Anthony Rendon gave the Nats a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second as he laced a single to left field, which scored Daniel Murphy.
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Aaron Hill helped the Brewers respond in the third inning, by singling in a run to tie the game 1-1.
Three innings later, Hernan Perez hit his fourth home run of the season to give the Brewers a 3-1 lead.
Hill did more damage in the seventh inning, crushing his eighth homer of the season to extend the Brewers’ cushion to 5-1. He finished the game with three RBIs and fell a triple shy of the cycle.
Ben Revere trimmed the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh, as he singled to center field to bring home Danny Espinosa. Bryce Harper had a chance to help the Nationals cut the deficit with the bases loaded, but was called out on strikes to end the seventh frame.
Gio Gonzalez threw the ball well for the Nats.
He pitched six innings, scattered seven hits, yielded three runs, issued three walks, fanned four batters and surrendered a home run on 102 pitches (57 strikes) in his eighth loss of the year.
It was a positive sign to see Gonzalez get back on track, considering the left-hander had allowed at least four runs in each of his prior three starts.
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As for Zach Davies, the right-hander did have some success on the mound.
He tossed 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, giving up nine hits, striking out three and walking one batter on 96 pitches (63 strikes) in earning his sixth victory of 2016.
Davies did yield plenty of hits to the Nats but found a way to limit the damage. This was the sixth time in the last seven starts that he allowed three runs or fewer.
Blake Treinen relieved Gonzalez in the seventh inning and ran into some problems, as he yielded two runs in the inning, due to the home run by Hill.
Rendon and Espinosa began the ninth with back-to-back singles, but Clint Robinson grounded into a double play and Revere grounded out to end the game.
Jeremy Jeffress successfully converted his 23rd save of the year for the Brewers.
It’s not often a team will pound out 12 hits and score just two runs. The Nats achieved this dubious honor by going 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position and leaving eight men on base.
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Next Game: The Washington Nationals will wrap up this game three-game series tomorrow. They will have Tanner Roark (7-5, 2.93 ERA) on the mound, and he will be opposed by Milwaukee Brewers starter Matt Garza (1-1, 3.74 ERA).
You can watch the game at 4:05 p.m. ET on MASN.