C.C. Sabathia made his not so triumphant return to Miller Park tonight.
Winning Pitcher: Zach Duke (3-0)
Losing Pitcher: Alfredo Aceves (0-1)
SV: Francisco Rodriguez (15)
HR: Carlos Gomez (9), Jonathan Lucroy (2), Aramis Ramirez (5)
C.C. Sabathia returned to Miller Park for the first time since he propelled the Brewers into the postseason in 2008. I cheered for him from home, but it sounds like his fan reception at Miller Park was tepid. Carlos Gomez greeted him rudely with a towering solo shot to left, bouncing off the top of the TGIF restaurant windows. It was pretty.
In the third inning Jacoby Ellsbury reached base on catchers interference. Brett Gardner doubled in the run and advanced to third on the the throw home. Carlos Beltran then blooped an RBI single allowing the Yankees to take a 2-1 lead.
With 2 outs in the bottom of the third inning Jean Segura grounded to the shortstop for what would have been the inning ending out. Instead, Brendan Ryan dropped the ball and Segura was safe. Jonathan Lucroy then hit a line drive to deep center that only stopped when it hit the wall just under the scoreboard. The Brewers regained the lead but it didn't end there. On the next pitch Aramis Ramirez hit a home run of his own putting the Brewers ahead 4-2. Rickie Weeks hit a line drive for a single and Mark Reynolds was able to drop one in shallow center but Khris Davis struck out to end the inning.
In the fourth inning Aramis Ramirez appeared to injury his leg making a play. Later Adam McCalvy reported it was a strained left hamstring. It will be reevaluated tomorrow. Jeff Bianchi came in to replace him.
Kyle Lohse was going good again until he allowed a solo home run to Mark Texiera in the top of the sixth. He retired the next 3 batters and the Brewers lead remained intact.
In the bottom half of the sixth Mark Reynolds drew a walk and Khris Davis hit a single. With runners at first and second and 1 out, Caleb Gindl hit a grounder that ricocheted off the first baseman's glove. No play would be made and the bases would be loaded. Joe Girardi opted to remove Sabathia for Dellin Betances. The night would be over for both starting pitchers as Ron Roenicke opted to pinch hit Scooter Gennett instead of having Loshe hit with the bases loaded. Gennett struck out on three pitches which was obviously unfortunate, but it was probably still the right call. Gomez would also strike out swinging and the bases loaded went for naught.
Tyler Thornburg took the mound in the 7th. He walked a batter and gave up a base hit. Roenicke then replaced him with Zach Duke. He got Ellsbury to pop out on 1 pitch. Girardi then pinch hit Alfonso Soriano in place of Bret Gardner. Soriano snuck a ground ball through the infield to tie the game at 4 a piece. The damage would stop there as the Brewers got a double play to end the inning.
In the bottom half of the 7th, Jonathan Lucroy hit a 1 out double. Jeff Bianchi popped for the second out. Rickie Weeks came to the plate and during his at-bat the home plate umpire called a balk, advancing Lucroy to third base. Weeks then shot a grounder through the left side of the infield and the Brewers retook the lead.
Will Smith didn't allow a batter to reach in the 8th and got two strikeouts.
The Brewers were unable to add insurance runs in the bottom of the 8th so Francisco Rodriguez would come on for the save with a 1 run lead. On the first pitch Brian Roberts made my heart skip a beat as he hit the ball about as far as one can to right field without it being a home run. Instead it landed in Gindl's glove. On two pitches Kelly Johnson did his best to murder me with a heart attack, but again, the ball found it's way to Gindl's glove. Ichiro Suzuki took pity on me and decided to pop-out to end the game.
The Brewers ended their losing streak, beating the Yankees by a score of 5-4. They're back at it tomorrow afternoon at 1:10 PM as Matt Garza faces David Phelps.
