SAN FRANCISCO – The Milwaukee Brewers have made a habit of playing close ballgames this season.
Wednesday wasn’t one of those nights.
Colin Rea was pummeled by the San Francisco Giants in a career-worst, four-inning start and with Blake Snell on the mound opposite him, the outcome was pretty much a foregone conclusion after one time through the Brewers’ order.
The final score, 13-2, wasn't Milwaukee's worst defeat of the season by final deficit.
But considering the team is trying to put the wraps on a second straight Central Division title with its schedule getting no easier down the stretch, the timing and optics of such a blowout weren't great.
BOX SCORE: Giants 13, Brewers 2
First baseman-designated hitter Jake Bauers pitching the eighth inning for the Brewers was the figurative white flag. There was a spot of positive news afterward, however, as the Chicago Cubs lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a slugfest, 10-8, dropping the Brewers' magic number to eight.
"We've got a special team here," Bauers said. "We don't play many games like this."
Nightmarish first inning for Colin Rea
The Giants wasted no time getting to Rea.
Tyler Fitzgerald opened with a double, Heliot Ramos drew a one-out walk and a passed ball charged to William Contreras allowed Fitzgerald to score the game's first run and Ramos to move to second.
A two-out LaMonte Wade single plated Ramos, then Jerar Encarnacion followed by lifting a two-run homer out to right putting the Brewers into a 4-0 hole – not the place to be with Snell countering.
The Brewers were on the verge of answering back in the second when Gary Sánchez singled and Rhys Hoskins and Joey Ortiz walked – Ortiz's free pass coming with two outs and after he'd seen 10 pitches – but Brice Turang struck out on three pitches.
Things go from bad to worse in a hurry
The hit parade continued against Rea in the second as Patrick Bailey doubled to lead off, Brett Wisely singled and Fitzgerald doubled for the second time in as many at-bats to make it 5-0.
Mike Yastrzemski followed with a three-run blast out to right – his second homer in as many nights – and the rout was officially on. Milwaukee did break up the shutout in the top of the third on consecutive doubles by Blake Perkins and Contreras, but there was more trouble around the corner.
Fitzgerald started the San Francisco fourth with a broken-bat single, Yastrzemski doubled and two batters later Matt Chapman homered as the Giants opened a 10-1 lead.
Over his four innings and 74 pitches, Rea (12-5) allowed career worsts of 11 hits and 10 runs (all earned), most since Alec Bettinger allowed 11 earned runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers in his major-league debut on May 2, 2021.
Rea walked one, struck out one and tied a career high with three homers allowed, with his season ERA leaping from 3.72 to 4.21.
"It was one of those games where I wasn't quite executing," Rea said. "If you go back and look at some of those pitches, a lot of them were coming back over the middle of the plate and they were putting good swings on them. Timing-wise, they were kind of on everything.
"Just one of those games, I guess. Try to move on from it."
In the glass-half-full department, Rea being able to last four innings was a positive for the Brewers.
"Colin hung in there and gave us four innings so we didn't have to go into our 'pen any deeper," Murphy said. "He didn't have his great stuff, but he's done so much for us. He's probably a little worn out like a lot of our guys are, but there's no time for that.
"He'll bounce back."
Playing out the string
The Giants, nursing their huge lead, not surprisingly pulled Snell after the fifth inning.
Murphy also utilized the moment to get many of his regulars off their feet as he emptied the bench with the likes of Eric Haase, Andruw Monasterio, Isaac Collins and Garrett Mitchell all entering the game.
Relievers lower on the pecking order also got the call, with the likes of Elvis Peguero and Hoby Milner seeing action on the mound. San Francisco tacked on a run against Peguero in the fifth to up its advantage to double digits.
A Monasterio single in the sixth drove in the Brewers' final run, and Bauers allowed a pair as he pitched the eighth to finish up a forgettable game for Milwaukee.
There was one moment of levity as Bauers, making his fourth career pitching appearance, registered the first strikeout of his career by getting Encarnacion swinging at a 72.3-mph fastball and then rolled the ball to the Milwaukee dugout for it to be authenticated and encapsulated.
"It's easy to get wrapped up in a game like that," he said. "But we're going to show up tomorrow and prepare and go try and win a ballgame. So, I mean, it's probably best to end on a note where the dugout is smiling at something as opposed to not, right?"
The Brewers' worst loss this season came against the New York Yankees at American Family Field on April 27, a 15-3 decision.
Brewers time, TV, radio
The Brewers game starts at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday.
TV: Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620 and a state network.
Brewers lineup
- Jackson Chourio LF
- Blake Perkins CF
- William Contreras C
- Gary Sánchez DH
- Willy Adames SS
- Sal Frelick RF
- Rhys Hoskins 1B
- Joey Ortiz 3B
- Brice Turang 2B
Giants lineup
- Tyler Fitzgerald SS
- Mike Yastrzemski RF
- Heliot Ramos DH
- Matt Chapman 3B
- LaMonte Wade Jr. 1B
- Jerar Encarnacion DH
- Grant McCray CF
- Patrick Bailey C
- Brett Wisely 2B
Brewers schedule
Brewers vs. Giants, 6:45 p.m. Thursday. Milwaukee RHP Frankie Montas (6-10, 4.69) vs. San Francisco RHP Hayden Birdsong (3-5, 5.13). TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Giants 13, Brewers 2: Blown out from the start
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