CHICAGO — Give this to the Brewers under new manager Pat Murphy: Even when they lose, they tend to make the most of all nine innings.
In Saturday’s 6-5 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field, Chicago starter Jameson Taillon departed after six innings with a 5-0 lead and saw the Brewers, with a rally that included Oliver Dunn’s RBI triple and Blake Perkins’ two-run home run, put the tying run in scoring position before either of Taillon’s two replacements recorded an out.
Alas for the visitors, Milwaukee’s rally ended there, and another in the ninth inning left the tying- and go-ahead runs on base.
“We continue to say that we’re in the fight until the last out’s made, and it showed again today,” Perkins said. “I think we need to do a better job earlier in the game to get on these guys — all of us included.”
There are few moral victories in the world of professional sports, but the Brewers have been a hard team to put down. Atop the National League Central at 20-12, a game ahead of the Cubs, the Brewers have brought at least the tying run to the plate in the final inning of seven of their 12 losses. And only two of those losses have come by a deficit of more than four runs — a pair of blowouts against the Yankees last weekend.
“The guys are always competitive, man. They make you proud to be part of them,” Murphy said. “It’s part of their character, part of who they are that they keep battling no matter what. Look no further than [William] Contreras. He didn’t have his best day and then he came up big at the right time.
