'Work well done': Despite a disappointing finish Sunday, Brewers' homestand was a positive

The Milwaukee Brewers' penultimate homestand of the season could have ended better – a 2-1, 11-inning loss to the lowly Washington Nationals on Sunday afternoon didn't send the 31,865 in attendance home happy.

But all in all, a 5-2 showing highlighted by three victories against a Miami Marlins team still fighting for a wild-card spot in the National League sent the team out onto the road for the final time in the regular season feeling good about where it's at in the larger picture.

"I think we played solid baseball," said manager Craig Counsell, whose team suffered just its third loss in its last 16 games at home. "You know, that the game doesn't go your way every day, some of the breaks don't go your way every day and the other teams, they're trying to beat you.

"But we went 5-2, and that's that's work well done."

As a result, the Brewers headed for their charter flight to St. Louis still with a six-game lead in the Central Division standings and their magic number to clinch the title still at eight. They then received good news later in the evening when the Chicago Cubs lost again to the Arizona Diamondbacks, changing those figures to 6 1/2 and seven.

Looking back, there was plenty to like about how Milwaukee played over the last week.

The starting pitching was strong, starting with Brandon Woodruff tossing a complete-game shutout Monday and then following up with six more solid innings in Sunday's loss.

The bullpen remained reliable, the offense put up games of 12 and nine runs with Mark Canha emerging as a difference-maker and the Brewers in general looked like a team determined to put the finishing touches on a second NL Central title in the last three years.

"Super positive," Woodruff said. "There's no chance this team is going to get down about today. It was a good baseball game we didn't win. We had a good home stretch here and now we'll hit the road.

"We're in a good spot and you know what? We'll just keep playing good baseball and see where we're at in a couple weeks."

Here are three takeaways from the loss.

Brandon Woodruff is in a great spot

Viewed alongside what he accomplished in his shutout on Monday, nothing about the right-hander's six-inning, 106-pitch start against the Nationals was especially eye-popping.

But Woodruff was still rock-solid in his 10th start of the season.

He allowed just one run, on a second-inning homer, three hits and didn't walk a batter while striking out six as a young but savvy Washington offense made Woodruff work.

"I didn't feel like I had the rhythm in my delivery like I did my last few times out," he said. "But I was able to make some pitches when I needed to. They're aggressive but they also go into battle mode when they get two strikes, so it's tough to strike guys out.

"They did a good job of having long at-bats and working the pitch counts."

It was apparent early Woodruff was going to need to be near-perfect because of the way his counterpart, veteran left-hander Patrick Corbin, was matching him.

He kept the Brewers off the board until the sixth thanks to an ability to step up and make pitches when needed as well as consecutive innings in which he erased baserunners with 1-4-3 double plays.

"We played two unbelievable games the first two games of the series and today I was just trying to go out and give some length and put the team in a good position to win," Woodruff said. "Corbin threw a great game for them and kind of held us at bay."

In his last 31 starts, Woodruff has gone 15-3 with a 2.22 ERA and 0.92 WHIP while striking out 221 over 186 ⅔ innings and limiting opposing batters to a collective .190 average.

Perhaps most important, the Brewers are 22-9 when he takes the mound – great numbers considering what's at stake here in the upcoming weeks.

"That's what I was expecting," Counsell said of Woodruff, who is 5-1 with a 1.89 ERA and WHIP of 0.76 in his 10 starts this season. "I think we were all expecting that.

"He's Brandon Woodruff. He's a really good pitcher."

Tough day for the offense

The one run the Brewers did manage to score in the sixth was very non-Brewers-like.

Canha led off with a single, stole second, was bunted up to third by William Contreras and driven in with a Carlos Santana sacrifice fly to right.

The sacrifice bunt was the first in 1,123 career plate appearances for Contreras, whose prowess is clearly hitting away.

"He was having a little trouble seeing," Counsell said. "It got the job done and it got us a run."

It was also just the sixth sacrifice bunt of the season for Milwaukee, which added another to its total when Brice Turang dropped one down to open the 11th and move Contreras up to third.

The Nationals intentionally walked Willy Adames next to match Rowdy Tellez up against left-hander Robert Garcia, and Tellez did what he was supposed to do – hit the ball hard.

He pulled a ground ball down the first-base line only to see Michael Chavis make a diving snag, step on first and then throw home to get Contreras in a game-ending rundown.

"I hit that ball hard," Tellez said. "Stayed on the lefty slider and he just made a good play. I just tried to stay inside the baseline. Sometimes, that's just how it goes – you hit one hard and don't find a hole."

Added Counsell: "He smoked the ball and it was a great play by the first baseman. You tip your cap to that. And then he made a great play to throw home as well, and not throw to second."

The Brewers also saw potential rallies fizzle out in the first, ninth and 10th with the 10th being the most frustrating as the bases were loaded with one out and both Canha and Contreras hit the ball on the ground rather than to the outfield to give Andruw Monasterio a chance to tag and potentially score.

Overall, Milwaukee finished 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position.

"It stinks, and it stings," Tellez said. "But we're a good team, and those good teams move on. It's a tough one, but it happens."

Should Andruw Monasterio have scored earlier in the 10th?

The rookie opened the frame as the "ghost runner" at second base and Victor Caratini lined a one-out single through the infield and into right.

Monasterio hesitated, took a step back toward second and then broke for third, where he was held by Jason Lane with rightfielder Lane Thomas coming up throwing.

He'd ultimately be forced out at home, leaving some to wonder why he didn't immediately break for home.

"It's hard to tell. It's a tough read," Counsell said. "If he catches it and you go, it's a double play. He thought there was a chance to catch it, so he played it safe and that's how you get just one base there."

Said Monasterio: "Any line drive, you make sure the ball gets into the outfield. If it was a ground ball, yeah, (then you break). But it was a line drive. If he caught it and it's a double play (then that's on me)."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 'Work well done': Brewers are happy with their 5-2 homestand