Brewers' bid for sweep of Orioles falls short as bullpen falters over final three innings
What had the look of a feel-good sweep turned out to be one of the more frustrating losses of the season for the Milwaukee Brewers.
The offense generated three first-inning runs only to go into a shell from there, and the normally reliable bullpen allowed six runs over the final three innings to set the stage for a 6-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at American Family Field on Thursday afternoon.
Colin Rea delivered another solid start with eight strikeouts over five scoreless innings and Elvis Peguero carried the shutout through the sixth before Joel Payamps allowed a run in the seventh and Peter Strzelecki gave up the lead in the eighth.
Box score Orioles 6, Brewers 3
Baltimore scored twice more in the ninth off Bryse Wilson to prevent the Brewers from recording their first sweep since May 12-14 (Kansas City Royals at home).
Milwaukee held a 3-1 lead entering the eighth, only to see the advantage quickly swing in Baltimore's favor.
The trouble started with a one-out infield single off the bat of Adley Rutschman, who then reached second after an ill-advised and wild throw by third baseman Luis Urías.
Anthony Santander followed with a double to right off Strzelecki that made it 3-2.
Strzelecki (3-5) recovered briefly by striking out Austin Hays only to be jumped by Gunnar Henderson, who swung at a ball up and out of the zone and somehow was able to lift a two-run, opposite-field homer over the wall in left.
The Orioles applied the finishing touches in the ninth with Adam Frazier's two-run double off Wilson.
The Brewers jumped on right-hander Kyle Bradish in the opening inning, with Christian Yelich's leadoff walk opening an eight-batter procession that netted the Brewers a 3-0 lead.
Willy Adames followed Yelich's walk with a roller of a single up the middle to center. Then after a groundout by Rowdy Tellez scored Yelich, William Contreras, Owen Miller and Jon Singleton all singled in succession before Bradish finally regained control.
Beginning with a strikeout of Urías, Bradish embarked on a roll of 12 consecutive batters retired -- including eight by strikeout -- until a one-out Yelich double in the fifth snapped the streak.
Bradish picked back up where he left off by striking out Adames and Tellez to increase his total to a season-high 10 but was pulled after allowing a leadoff double to Contreras in the sixth.
Rea, who retired the side in order in the first, worked with traffic on the bases for the rest of his five-inning start yet still managed to keep the Orioles off the board while striking out eight -- one shy of his season high.
At only 84 pitches entering the sixth, Rea nevertheless was pulled by manager Craig Counsell in favor of Peguero. It was just the second scoreless appearance for Rea this season (10 starts).
Peguero maintained the shutout in the sixth but it was finally scuttled in the seventh when Ramon Urías got a ball up into the jet stream that carried out to right for a two-out, solo homer off Payamps.
More: Here are Milwaukee Brewers injury updates for the 2023 season
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers' bid for sweep of Orioles falls short as bullpen falters late
