Villar’s consecutive miscues opened the door to a five-run sixth inning for the Pittsburgh Pirates, capped by Jordy Mercer’s first career grand slam, and the Brewers went on to drop a 5-3 decision at Miller Park.
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“Puts a little chip on your shoulder, for sure”, Mercer said.
With two on, Milwaukee opted to intentionally walk Francisco Cervelli to load the bases for Jordy Mercer. “We walked a guy ahead of the guy to get to who we wanted, I floated a slider in there, and front-footed it and hit a jet stream”. He also singled home a run in the third and clubbed his 18th home run of the season in the first inning.
Andrew McCutchen reached base on Villar’s bobbling error on an infield grounder to begin the sixth.
Jordy Mercer connecting on a pitch for his first Major League Baseball grand slam on August 26.
“That’s a tough one to swallow for him over there”, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “In the big leagues, if you want to be an elite team, those are opportunities you need to cash in on”. He’ll face Pittsburgh’s Ryan Vogelsong (2-3).
Chad Kuhl dominated Brewer hitters for six innings, but after Chris Carter doubled in the seventh, Kirk Nieuwenhuis clubbed a long home run to right field to tie the game 2-2. Antonio Bastardo picked up the win and Tony Watson notched his eighth save.
Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Matt Garza winds up during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday, Aug. 26, 2016, in Milwaukee. He’s 5-0 with a 2.65 ERA in his last five starts against Milwaukee.
“It sucks, but I’ve got to be better than that”, Garza said.
“I think the first one was just kind of a routine play he just missed”, Counsell said.
Villar was the Brewers’ starting shortstop until a few weeks ago when top prospect Arcia was called up from the minors. It’s been a work in progress for the youngster, who was recently asked if he was feeling comfortable with the Brewers.
Arcia, known for his defensive prowess, got a huge confidence boost at the plate.
The Brewers had their chances against him, putting two out in the second and loading the bases in the fourth but couldn’t come up with the big hit. Somewhere in Miller Park, his sister and two friends were watching.
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Brewers: RHP Junior Guerra (elbow) was scheduled to make on rehab start before returning to the team, likely when rosters expand on September 1. Counsell said the team will likely move to a six-man rotation when Guerra returns. 3B Will Middlebrooks (right leg) will start a rehab assignment at Double-A Biloxi this week.
