The Brewers bury the Mariners with a bunt and a blast

In a breezy two hours and 34 minutes, the Mariners and Brewers concluded the final game of their first series since August of 2016. Now, as with then, Seattle took the first two games, including a sharp outing from Wade LeBlanc, but a tight game three got away from them. Then it was Ariel Miranda allowing a dinger and three runs over 5.2 innings, doing enough to win before Tom Wilhelmsen imploded in the 9th. Today it was Mike Leake misplacing one high fastball with two on and two out that Orlando Arcia poked the opposite way into the stands.

It was a shame, because Leake’s outing was otherwise an excellent showcase for his National League appeal. The bristly uncle of the Mariners staff made it through six innings with his typical efficiency, yielding just the four runs he allowed in the 4th. Though he was fortunate to benefit from Miller Park’s spacious outfield, he held a potent Brewers offense to few threats. At the dish, Leake worked a walk and flew out to deep right in a 2-2 count. That’s the type of spunky grit that the Diamondbacks and/or Padres have got to love. Right? Right?? Please send Mike Leake home where he wants to be.

The offense couldn’t get in gear the way they had in games one and two, and they fell into the Brewers’ gameplan perfectly. Chase “Still Inexplicably Not Left-Handed” Anderson was spotless until the 6th, when Daniel Vogelbach and Tim Beckham poked a pair of doubles to halve the deficit. It felt like a return to April form for the offense, and I forgot for a moment the quality of opponent was moments from ramping up.

Unfortunately, that was it. Matt Albers, Javy Guerra, and Josh Hader combined to allow just two baserunners over the final 3.2 innings. All that kept Dee Gordon and Dylan Moore from utterly shattered bats was that they didn’t make contact at all. It wasn’t an uncompetitive game from the Mariners, simply one they failed to win. J.P. Crawford checked in with a single, and also was one of several players from both teams to be captured loudly cursing after poor contact by a near-home mic. I appreciated the competitiveness, but this one wasn’t such a big deal, they could’ve probably cooled it on that.