BY ANDREI GRESKAFOXSportsWisconsin.com
Looking to close out the nine-game road trip on a positive note, the Milwaukee Brewers managed to do just the opposite, giving up an eighth-inning lead before falling to Houston 7-4 in the 10th inning off a three-run walk-off from Carlos Pena.
"Defensively we gave them a couple of runs early. Offensively we obviously didn't do the job when we had guys on third base," a flustered Ron Roenicke said after the game. "That was a bad game."
Roenicke went so far as to agree that this was the Brewers' worst game of the year saying it was "as bad as it gets."
"Sometimes we may lose or we may not pitch well or not hit, but all the things we did wrong in that game, it was a bad game."
Yovani Gallardo pitched well, pushing his scoreless streak to 21 innings after going seven innings allowing five hits and three unearned runs, but it was not enough as fielding errors and bullpen mistakes cost him the win.
"He pitched really well," Roenicke said. "He had everything working. The fastball had great location on it. Good slider and curveball. He pitched really well."
It was a different story for Jim Henderson, though, who replaced Gallardo in the eighth inning up 4-3 and immediately gave up the game-tying solo home run to Carlos Corporan. Corporan would haunt the Brewers again in the 10th, reaching first base on a wild pitch after striking out and scoring what would prove to be the game-winning run.
With the loss, the Brewers were denied their first winning road trip of the season, going 4-5 against Miami, Cincinnati and Houston.
No clutch hitting: Milwaukee had plenty of chances to put the game away throughout the game after jumping to a 3-0 lead, but wasn't able to get hits when it needed them most. The Brewers went 0-12 with runners in scoring position on the afternoon.
Up 4-3 in the top of the eighth, Carlos Gomez doubled and reached third on an error with nobody out, and it looked as if an insurance run was guaranteed. It was not to be, though, as Aramis Ramirez grounded out to third, Jonathan Lucroy struck out swinging and Yuniesky Betancourt followed suit after an intentional walk to Juan Francisco.
A similar chord was struck in the ninth Jean Segura and Logan Schafer were unable to drive in Scooter Gennett from third base, capping off the Brewers poor day at the plate with runners in scoring position.
Web gems: Carlos Gomez must like Minute Maid Park because his defense during the series has been stellar.
In Wednesday night's game, Gomez raced up Tal's Hill in center field to rob Jason Castro of an extra-base hit with a nominee for the catch of the year.
On Thursday, Houston's Trevor Crowe led off the game with a low liner to left field which got past a diving Caleb Gindl for what looked to be an easy triple as the ball skipped all the way to the wall. Enter Gomez. The speedy center fielder raced over to from his spot in the outfield to cover for the sprawled out Gindl.
Gomez wasn't content with simply preventing an inside-the-park home run, though. He fired a laser into third from the base of the wall, one-hopping perfectly into Aramis Ramirez' awaiting glove. Ramirez tagged out a sliding Crowe to prevent Houston from getting off to a good start.
"He's made some outstanding plays this whole series," pitching coach Lee Tunnell said of Gomez. "He's as athletic as they come and has a real explosive body. He made a great throw today, too."
