Brewers fall 6-3 as Marlins' Conley pulled in 8th with no-hit bid
MILWAUKEE -- After being frustrated for nearly eight innings by Marlins lefty Adam Conley, the Milwaukee Brewers used a bloop hit by Jonathan Lucroy to key an improbably rally that fell short.
Conley was pulled after 116 pitches despite having not allowed a hit over 7 2/3 innings and Miami's bullpen, despite ruining the no-hitter, wound up holding off the Brewers 6-3 on Friday night.
Lucroy blooped a single with one out in the ninth off reliever Jose Urena to break up the combo no-hit bid. The ball landed in shallow right field, just beyond the outstretched glove of diving second baseman Derek Dietrich.
Dietrich was playing in place of speedy Gold Glove winner Dee Gordon, who was suspended for 80 games by Major League Baseball on Thursday night after a positive test for performance-enhancing substances.
When asked whether Gordon would have caught Lucroy's hit, Miami manager Don Mattingly said, "I don't know. Probably. Dee's pretty exciting. He probably catches that ball."
With two outs, Milwaukee got an RBI single by pinch-hitter Alex Presley, a run-scoring double by Ramon Flores and an RBI single by Yadiel Rivera that chased Urena. They then loaded the bases against closer A.J. Ramos before he struck out Jonathan Villar for his seventh save.
"The ninth inning was fun," Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said. "It was interesting, we made it good, kept battling, guys had great at-bats."
Zach Davies (0-3) struggled for the third consecutive start. He allowed four runs, six hits and three walks in five innings, and has an 8.78 ERA since being recalled from Triple-A on April 17.
"He's the type of pitcher that has to be fine with stuff," Counsell said. "He has to execute probably more than the next guy and there were just enough misses where he kind of got himself into trouble."
The 25-year-old Conley (1-1) struck out seven and walked four. The crowd at Miller Park booed as Mattingly walked to the mound and brought in Urena from the bullpen.
"It was easy right there," Mattingly said of the decision. "I knew he couldn't finish. We weren't going to let him finish."
Conley, who made his big league debut last year with the Marlins, had four previous starts this season. In those games, he threw 31, 93, 95 and 88 pitches.
Conley's career high for pitches was 106 last season.
"I never like coming out of the game no matter what the circumstances are, but considering where I was at the in the game and everything I knew what was going on," Conley said. "I knew coming into the eighth I was already at about 100 (pitches)."
Earlier this month, Ross Stripling of the Dodgers threw no-hit ball for 7 1/3 innings against San Francisco in his major league debut and was taken out after 100 pitches.
Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta pitched the majors' first no-hitter this season, doing it last week at Cincinnati.
Justin Bour homered twice, doubled and drove in five runs to put Miami ahead. The Marlins have won six consecutive games.
The gangly Conley worked quickly throughout the game. He escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fourth by striking out Lucroy and getting Chris Carter to ground into a double play.
TRIPLE PLAY
The Brewers turned the seventh triple play in franchise history. With Martin Prado at second and Christian Yelich at first, Marcell Ozuna hit a hard one-hopper that third baseman Aaron Hill fielded a couple steps from third. He stepped on the bag, threw to second baseman Yadiel Rivera, who fired to first to get Ozuna by a step, with Davies pumping his fist in excitement. The last one was Aug. 15, 2011, against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Miller Park.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Marlins: OF Giancarlo Stanton was given the day off for rest. "You really don't want to push Giancarlo over the edge," Mattingly said.
Brewers: RHP Matt Garza made 30 throws on flat ground from 60 feet, his first step in returning from a lat strain. He is expected to miss at least another month.
UP NEXT
Stanton is expected to return to the lineup when Milwaukee RHP Chase Anderson (1-2) faces Miami LHP Wei-Yin Chen (1-1) in the second game of the three-game series.
