Reversed call sinks Crew vs. 'dangerous' SF

SAN FRANCISCO -- Eric Lauer delivered a stellar outing for the Brewers. For a fleeting moment, it looked as if Devin Williams had, too.

With a chance to take an 11-game lead in their division for the first time in franchise history and sweep a four-game series on the road from the team that began the week with the best record in the Major Leagues, Lauer delivered his best start in a Brewers uniform and Williams appeared to secure a 23rd consecutive outing without an earned run. But Williams’ inning continued on an overturned call in the eighth, and the Giants used the extra life to score four runs and send the Brewers to a 5-1 loss at Oracle Park on Thursday afternoon.

• Box score

“This is a tough team, certainly a dangerous team to play in their ballpark,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said of the Giants. “I think three out of four is a good result, and on to the next one.”

The Brewers missed the chance to sweep after being stymied for seven innings by 24-year-old right-hander Logan Webb. He struck out 10 batters on only 92 pitches over seven innings in a duel with Lauer, who yielded a home run to Austin Slater on his first pitch and then was sensational the rest of the way.

Lauer completed seven innings for the first time since June 2019, when he was with the Padres. He allowed two hits, both singles, after Slater's home run, walked only one and departed after throwing just 90 pitches in favor of a pinch-hitter in the eighth as the Brewers tried to get something started on offense.

“It felt like every pitch mattered,” said Brewers first baseman Daniel Vogelbach after making his first start in the field since June. “It was one of those games that at any time something little could turn and change the whole game.”

That’s what happened in the bottom of the eighth, after Williams, named the National League Reliever of the Month for August while the Brewers-Giants game was in progress, walked Kris Bryant with two outs. The Brewers thought they’d erased Bryant when he was called out on an attempted steal of second base, but the call was overturned upon replay review.

It proved to be a game-changing call. Brandon Belt walked on the next pitch, Darin Ruf hit a tiebreaking double and Thairo Estrada followed with a three-run home run.

Williams, who had been charged with four earned runs in his previous 37 outings and posted a 0.00 ERA in 14 innings in August, was charged with four earned runs in two-thirds of an inning and took the loss.

“I didn’t have my best command today. I was getting behind a lot of hitters,” Williams said. “That’s not a good recipe for success.”

What was his view of the call on Bryant?

“I couldn’t tell from the replay, so I don’t know,” Williams said.

“We don’t get a vote,” Counsell said. “Obviously, they saw an angle that they thought merited reversing it. There wasn’t one on the scoreboard at the stadium. I’m sure they probably had more angles than that. They must have, to reverse it.”

Replay worked against the Brewers an inning later, when Willy Adames circled the bases on what initially was called a two-run home run down the right-field line. That ruling, however, was quickly overturned, and replay confirmed a foul ball.

Counsell was ejected in the ensuing discussion.

“In the end, I think they got that call right,” he said.

The late drama overshadowed another strong start for Lauer, who has a 2.10 ERA over his last 10 outings. Beyond the numbers, Lauer’s presence as a competent sixth starter has allowed the Brewers to give the rest of their rotation -- including the trio of Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta -- the extra rest that club officials believe is critical coming off the shortened 2020 season.

“It’s not really my goal to be a sixth starter in the rotation, but when we’ve got the guys we’ve got, you try to fit in wherever you can,” Lauer said. “As long as I’m up here and I’m helping the team win games, I don’t really care what I’m doing. I think the way I can contribute best is to throw multiple innings and start games, and I feel like I’m well on my way to proving that I should be in the rotation for a while.”

If the Brewers and Giants meet again in 2021, it will be in the postseason.

“It was definitely a little bit of a playoff feel,” Lauer said of the series. “Two really good teams going at it. Obviously you always want to win, especially [against] a team that’s right there, neck-and-neck for the top spot [in the NL]. It’s a good thing to have that competitiveness and that feel of a game, especially when we’re getting close to the playoffs.”