Domingo Santana File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
The Washington Nationals scored seven runs in the 8th inning, coming from behind to knock off the Milwaukee Brewers 8-5 on Wednesday night.
The Brewers suffered their seventh loss in nine games on their current three-city road trip and fell a half game behind the Chicago Cubs for first place in the National League Central Division.
The Brewers bullpen suffered its 26th loss of the season, failing to protect the lead for starter Jimmy Nelson. Nelson allowed two runs in seven innings but wasn’t involved in the decision. He walked only one and struck out 10.
The loss goes to Jacob Barnes, who got two ground balls, but both found holes to drive in runs. Josh Hader came on to strike out Bryce Harper and Craig Counsell then went to Jared Hughes to face Ryan Zimmerman. Not only did Zimmerman deliver a run scoring hit, Hughes coughed up four runs on four hits before finally retiring the Nationals.
Domingo Santana and rookie Lewis Brinson both delivered long home runs in the loss. Brinson’s was the first of his major league career.
The final game of the series gets underway at 11:05 a.m. this morning. Michael Blazek (0-0, 0.00) makes his first start for the Brewers. Max Scherzer (11-5, 2.26) goes for Washington. Blazek starts in place of Matt Garza, who was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a calf strain.
The Brewers also officially announced their trade with the White Sox, acquiring Anthony Swarzak for outfielder Ryan Cordell. Swarzak didn’t arrive in time for last night’s game but he’ll be in uniform today. To make room on the roster for Swarzak, the Brewers sent Brett Phillips back to the minors.