Lauer gives up 3 homers in return to rotation

ST. PETERSBURG -- Eric Lauer and the Brewers hoped his promising relief stint against the Royals was the start of something good. With three starting pitchers on the injured list, that’s what they need.

Against the best-in-baseball Rays, it was not to be.

Lauer served up three home runs and exited without recording an out in the fourth inning of the Brewers’ 8-4 loss to the Rays on Saturday at Tropicana Field. Seven teams have visited this season, and the Brewers are the sixth to depart with a series loss. They’ll have to win Sunday behind Freddy Peralta to avoid being swept.

“We've just got to play better,” said Brewers manager Craig Counsell, whose club has lost seven of its last nine series but remains tied for first in the National League Central. “I mean, that's how you win games -- contributions from a lot of guys. We certainly have plenty of guys to do that.

“We're in a good position. We've had some adversity. That's how a season works. And we're going to have to go through the stretch with who we've got. That's not at full strength, but that's the way it's going to go.”

Owen Miller and Brian Anderson homered as Brewers hitters snapped a 23-inning scoreless streak that spanned four games and briefly pulled within a run of the Rays at 4-3 in the fourth. But later that same inning, Lauer joined Wade Miley as the only Brewers pitchers to allow three homers in an outing this season, and Lauer finished having allowed six runs on six hits in three-plus innings while throwing first-pitch balls to 12 of the 17 hitters he faced.

“I think it was just a little bit of searching for the zone,” Lauer said. “I really need to look into my pitch usages, because I think I'm getting lopsided with what I'm using. … I'm a five-pitch pitcher and throwing 2 1/2 of them, basically.”

Throwing mostly four-seam fastballs and cutters, the outing marked Lauer’s rotation return after making his last appearance in relief, a solid, 5 1/3-inning outing against Kansas City at home six days earlier that went so long because Lauer pitched so well. Going into that game, the idea was that some shorter, all-out relief appearances would help him find the “lanes” Lauer has been talking about after recent outings. Maybe it would also help him find the career-best velocity he featured last season.

Then circumstances changed. The Brewers, already without injured starters Brandon Woodruff and Aaron Ashby through the end of June or longer, suffered another blow earlier on this homestand when veteran left-hander Miley suffered a strained muscle near his shoulder that will sideline him 6-8 weeks. The Brewers had little choice but to move Lauer back into the rotation.

“I mean, honestly, I don’t think it happened the way we wanted it to happen,” Counsell said before the game. “We were short, obviously, and he’s right back out there because it was really a need.”

The Rays presented a more acute challenge than the Royals six days earlier. Tampa Bay entered the day 20-3 in its home ballpark with baseball’s second-highest slugging percentage against left-handed pitching (.552).

For Lauer, there’s also the mental side of the game. He’s been open that there was merit to taking a break from starting.

“It's definitely hard to find that confidence when not a lot is going right for you,” Lauer said. “Right now I feel like there's been a lot of mechanical talk with the velo being down, whereas I don't see it as much mechanical as, 'Let's get back to pitching, let's get back to attacking guys, let's get back on top of things,' rather than pitching from behind and trying to make everything look pretty.”

If not Lauer in that spot, what else can the Brewers try? They are at the limits of their pitching depth; Colin Rea (5.52 ERA in 31 Major League innings so far this season) is one option, and Minor Leaguers Robert Gasser and Caleb Boushley are others, though neither is on the 40-man roster, and Gasser, while a promising prospect with good stuff, is walking 5.92 batters per nine innings at Triple-A Nashville.

They could shift Bryse Wilson to the rotation if they choose. Wilson relieved Lauer and pitched three scoreless innings on 39 pitches Saturday, and has a 2.92 ERA after 24 2/3 innings of relief this year. In his career, Wilson is 9-16 with a 5.50 ERA in 43 starts.

Lauer’s spot comes up again next week against the Giants. Whatever happens, Counsell said, “We need Eric to pitch well. With the injuries, we've stretched the options for sure. So, we'll have to figure out how we do it. But we're going to need Eric.”