Thames' HR wins it after Hader blows save

MILWAUKEE -- Josh Hader keeps challenging hitters with his fastball, and when they get hit, they keep finding their way to the other side of the fence.

But Eric Thames can hit homers, too.

Hader suffered his fourth blown save when Elvis Andrus connected for a tying solo home run with one out in the ninth inning before Thames answered with two outs in the bottom of the frame for a 6-5 win over the Rangers on Friday at Miller Park. It didn’t score any style points, but it did give the Brewers a four-game winning streak and kept them in position for the second National League Wild Card -- a half-game ahead of the Cardinals, Phillies and surging Mets.

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If it wasn’t an ugly win, it was at least a weird one. Brewers pitchers issued 10 walks, a season-high for a nine-inning game, and Hader hit two batters. Of the Rangers’ four hits, three were home runs. Alex Claudio threw a run-scoring wild pitch that tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth inning, but the play also resulted in an inning-ending out when a second runner tried to score. In the seventh, Mike Moustakas and Yasmani Grandal committed errors on back-to-back Rangers batters and Matt Albers walked the next two, but no one scored.

“You can describe it any way you want it. We’ll describe it as a win, and that’s a good one,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “It takes a team. Things happen throughout the course of the game. It was a back and forth game. But we’re at home, we get the last shot. Josh, I thought, really sucked up the last couple of outs and had to work really hard but kept making pitches and got those last outs to put us in the dugout tied. And then Eric … put a great swing on the ball.”

“Baseball is a strange game,” Thames said, “but as long as we came out with the 'W,' that's all that matters.”

Milwaukee had hoped to spare Hader a multi-inning appearance after Grandal dropped a tiebreaking two-run single between Rangers defenders in the seventh inning and Manny Pina followed with a run-scoring double for a 5-2 lead. The Brewers turned to Trade Deadline pickup Jake Faria for the eighth, but he surrendered a two-run homer to Logan Forsythe that prompted a call for Hader to try a five-out save. When he recorded the final two outs of the inning with strikeouts, it gave him 100 this season -- making him the first pitcher in Brewers history to reach triple-digit strikeouts as a reliever in consecutive seasons.

Hader returned to the ninth to face the meat of the Rangers order. When he retired Danny Santana and threw strike one to Andrus, Hader had thrown 19 pitches, all fastballs. Pitch No. 20 was another fastball at 95.2 mph, a touch up and away on an 0-1 count, and Andrus hit it out to center field.

It prompted another dive into Hader’s oddly incongruous batted ball statistics. His .150 average against is best in the NL and third best in the Major Leagues among pitchers who have logged at least 20 innings. But of the 29 hits he’s allowed, 12 are home runs. All four of Hader’s blown saves have come on fastballs hit for homers.

Hader has allowed runs in four of his last five appearances, including home runs in three of those games.

According to Statcast, he threw 37 fastballs and six sliders against the Rangers.

“Look, I think Josh threw the ball well tonight,” Counsell said. “He struck out four. He got a ton of swings and misses tonight. The pitch that Andrus hit is a pitch that Josh is going to make over and over again this year. I give Andrus credit. Not many guys are hitting that pitch.”

Counsell added, “I’m going to put Josh in the game again, yeah, and I think we’re in good shape when Josh goes into the game. We’re in really good shape.”

Hader went on to allow two more baserunners but no more runs. It took 44 pitches, a season-high that means he may not be available again until Tuesday against the Twins.

“It's a new area for him, and the adjustments will come,” said Brewers starter Gio Gonzalez, who worked five effective innings of one-run ball in a no-decision. “He's done so much for us. He's pitched so many innings for us and carried the load. Two innings, 40-some pitches is a lot of work, especially for a guy we depend on a lot. He's our guy no matter what. Good, bad, ugly, pretty -- we need him.”