In what could have been a monumental loss for the (38-42) Milwaukee Brewers, Aramis Ramirez smacked a 2-run 10th inning walk-off home run as the Brewers out-slugged the (38-42) Miami Marlins 13-12 Tuesday afternoon at Miller Park. The contest lasted 4-hours, 28-minutes as the two-teams combined for 31-hits. The Brewers were forced to play catch-up after blowing a 6-run, 8th inning lead.
Milwaukee blew the game open in the 6th inning scoring 6-runs to push their lead to 9-2. Corey Hart led-off the frame with a solo home run, his 16th of the season. Ryan Braun capped off the scoring in the inning with a 3-run blast, his National League best 23rd of the year. Hart and Rickie Weeks each had 3-hits in the game while Braun, Ramirez, Carlos Gomez, and Cody Ransom each had 2-hits.
Miami chipped away at the Brewers lead scoring 3-runs in the 7th inning to make it 9-5. After Milwaukee tacked on two in the bottom of the 7th, the Marlins tallied 6-runs in the 8th to tie the game at 11. Jose Reyes hit a solo homer in the 10th to give the Marlins a 12-11 lead before Ramirez won it. Manager Ron Roenicke had a good feeling heading into the game…
AUDIO: Ron Roenicke felt good before Tuesday’s first pitch :14
It was not a good day for the Brewers bullpen. Milwaukee used 6-relievers with only Manny Parra and John Axford posting goose eggs. Jose Veras was charged with all 3-runs in the 7th lasting just 1/3 of an inning before Parra relieved him. Kameron Loe went only 1/3 of an inning in the 8th surrendering 4-runs and was replaced by Francisco Rodriguez who got the final two-outs of the frame while allowing 2-runs. Livan Hernandez, who notched the victory, gave up the Reyes homer that put the Brewers down in the 10th. Roenicke needs his bullpen to get it together
AUDIO: Ron Roenicke needs to see more from his bullpen :15
Marco Estrada may have had the best day on the hill for Milwaukee. He went 6-innings allowing 2-runs on 4-hits, struck out-6 and walked no-one. With a 9-2 lead, it seemed destined Estrada (0-3) would pick up his first victory of the season.
The Brewers and Marlins will play another 3:10 first pitch Wednesday at Miller Park. Randy Wolf (2-6) gets the ball for Milwaukee while Josh Johnson (5-5) tosses for Miami. The 4-game set concludes Thursday with a 1:10 first pitch.