'We got to where we wanted to,' Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. The Brewers were playing a game with two available relievers. Hoby Milner, the would-be next man up, had also thrown in five of six.Ĭounsell also wanted to stay away from Bryse Wilson, he of three saves and a 2.56 earned run average this season, after he threw 2⅔ innings in the previous three games. As was Joel Payamps, the eight-inning man, after also pitching four innings in that span.Įlvis Peguero, the next reliever on the totem pole, had pitched in five of six days. In doing so, Counsell and the Brewers consciously made a trade-off, placing all their resources into winning the winnable games right in front of them knowing they would be left shorthanded come Friday night in Pittsburgh.īy the time Friday rolled around, the Brewers still found themselves on the cusp of stealing a win in yet another tight game despite depleted relief ranks and a starting pitcher who made it one out into the sixth.īush, the de facto closer, blew a two-run lead in the ninth inning, the final blow being Carlos Santana’s two-run walk-off home run with two outs, sending the Brewers to an 8-7 loss at PNC Park on Friday night.Ĭloser Devin Williams was unavailable as a result of pitching in four of the last five games.

The Brewers won five games in that stretch, with three victories coming by one run. PITTSBURGH - During the first seven days of a stretch of 17 consecutive games without an off-day, Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell exhausted nearly the entirely of his bullpen options in an effort to win as many games as possible.

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