3 takeaways from Crew's walk-off loss

Whether it was the altitude or just one of those weeks, Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes went to Coors Field and came up empty.

A day after Woodruff endured a five-run first inning in a series-opening loss, Burnes saw a three-run lead slip away at the end of his second consecutive subpar outing. Even after the Brewers tied the game in the top of the ninth, it became a walk-off, 6-5 loss to the Rockies in 10 innings on Friday, and Milwaukee’s fifth consecutive defeat on the heels of a stretch in which it won nine of 10.

“This was just straight up on me tonight,” Burnes said. “I just couldn't get the pitches down in the zone, couldn't get the punchouts when we had two strikes, and it's a tough pill to swallow to lose that game.”

The Brewers played highlight-reel defense and got big hits from Luis Urías and Jackie Bradley Jr. as they built Burnes a 4-1 lead by the game’s midpoint. But like so many other leads at Coors Field, this one slipped away when the Rockies scored in four of the final six innings against Burnes and the Brewers bullpen, including C.J. Cron’s winning single off Devin Williams leading off the bottom of the 10th.

The Brewers had chances, too. After Willy Adames’ tying double in the ninth, eight straight Milwaukee hitters batted with the go-ahead runner in scoring position. They combined for three strikeouts, two sharp lineouts to center field, a hit by pitch, a walk, and Kolten Wong’s well-struck grounder into a drawn-infield for an out at the plate with the bases loaded in the ninth inning.

“A matter of inches,” Wong said.

Here are three more takeaways:

1. Burnes is in his first funk.
After beginning the month of June with the third start in Brewers history of at least 13 strikeouts and no walks to lower his ERA to 1.97, Burnes has scuffled through consecutive outings against the Pirates and Rockies. In 9 1/3 innings over those two starts, Burnes has allowed eight runs (seven earned) on 17 hits.

“In the first two innings it was kind of, 'throw everything and see what was going to work.' And everything we threw just was a little bit different,” Burnes said. “I didn't really have the cutter tonight. The changeup was horrible. It was basically a slider. So, we were basically trying to attack with a curveball and a sinker tonight. Obviously, that's not normally how I pitch.”

Make it two straight starts in which Burnes felt his signature cutter lacked its usual bite. That’s a development to watch moving forward.

“It's frustrating, obviously, to have two outings like this in a row,” Burnes said. “But it's a part of the game and I'll have a good work week this week and get back after it.”

2. This is still a solid defense.
On Thursday, the Brewers committed four errors for the first time in four years.

On Friday, they played arguably their best defensive game of the season.

“Defensively, that's one of the better games I've seen,” Burnes said.

Four plays stood out, including three in the second inning, when Burnes surrendered four singles but only one run. The first was right-fielder Avisaíl García’s running catch to deny Rockies second baseman Brendan Rodgers.

Later in the inning, Garrett Hampson singled to center field with two out and two runners aboard, and Bradley fired a perfect throw home at 95 mph, according to Statcast. That denied the lead runner -- Rockies pitcher Antonio Senzatela -- a chance to score.

Then, second baseman Kolten Wong ranged up the middle for a Charlie Blackmon bouncer and managed to make a strong throw on the run for the final out of the inning, stranding the bases loaded in a one-run game. Wong was fresh off the injured list.

And in the fifth, Yelich reached to make a running catch in left field to hold Trevor Story to a sacrifice fly instead of a multi-run double that could have ballooned into a bigger inning for Burnes.

“It’s Coors Field but the defenders made it tough to get hits tonight,” manager Craig Counsell said.

3. Josh Hader is a one-inning guy.
If ever the Brewers were going to deploy Hader for more than one inning, this looked like the spot. Counsell bucked the old convention by using his closer in a tie game on the road, and Hader needed only seven pitches for a 1-2-3 ninth inning. It was his 13th consecutive outing without being charged with a run.

But after the Brewers went scoreless in the top of the 10th, it was Williams on the mound.

“At this point, we’re looking at Josh for one inning,” Counsell said. “That’s what he’s been doing. He has had a busy workload, so that’s how we’re looking at Josh right now.”

Even if the Brewers had taken the lead in their half of the 10th?

“Josh pitched one inning,” Counsell said. “Devin was pitching the next inning.”

The Brewers have been strict about that all season and for all but one outing last season, aiming to keep Hader healthy and sharp for the long haul.