'He's a competitive kid': Myers caps strong June with solid showing

MILWAUKEE -- Tobias Myers didn’t look much like the dominant pitcher he’d been throughout June during portions of Saturday afternoon’s up-and-down start against the Cubs, but the righty battled through six innings and departed with the score tied.

The gutsy effort made an impression on manager Pat Murphy.

“He’s a competitive kid. He’s proven that,” Murphy said. “He’s pitched very well for us.”

But Murphy knows there’s still plenty of room for improvement for the 25-year-old rookie.

“Today was not one of his best days. [The Cubs] came out ready to go,” Murphy said. “His tendency is to have a rough first and then settle in. That’s not good enough. You’ve got to recognize that. It’s a shift. It’s not any different training. It’s a shift and a mindset that I’m going to throw the first punch. Well, there’s a way to do that and not try too hard and overcook it. That’s part of the maturation process.”

Myers gave up three runs and seven hits across six innings. He walked two, stuck out six, hit a batter and balked twice, throwing 82 pitches (58 strikes) in the Brewers’ 5-3 loss.

“He battled and kept us in the game,” Murphy said.

Myers gave up more earned runs in the first four innings on Saturday than he had in his four previous June starts combined.

The struggles for Myers started immediately as he gave up a single to Nico Hoerner on his first pitch of the game and a home run to Michael Busch on the second. More trouble seemed to be lurking when he walked the next batter, Cody Bellinger, who then moved to second when Myers was called for a balk.

But Myers retired the next three batters to limit the damage. He got through the second and third unscathed before surrendering a run-scoring single to Pete Crow-Armstrong in the fourth.

Myers pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth and sailed through a 1-2-3 sixth before being replaced by Bryan Hudson to start the seventh.

“I was happy with that,” Myers said of recovering after a rough start to the outing. “I know I could have executed a little bit better throughout the game. I was able to give the team six and keep it pretty close.”

Myers said he’s cognizant of his first-inning struggles.

“I could do a better job of executing early on and just getting away from those first-pitch 90 mph heaters” he said. “That’ll help me out a lot in the long run. They were aggressive today. They know what I’ve been doing the last couple weeks, which is attacking with the four-seam. They did a pretty good job of coming out and they put some good swings on some good fastballs.”

Myers had arguably transformed himself into the ace of the Brewers staff in his previous June outings, during which he recorded four wins and carried a minuscule 0.71 ERA (two earned runs allowed -- and just 13 hits -- in 25 1/3 innings). He had four quality starts in five outings during the month after being recalled from Triple-A Nashville on June 5, finishing with a 4-0 record and a 1.44 ERA.

“I’m definitely excited for the future,” Myers said. “Being able to find myself a little bit in this last month and compete, that’s a good sign moving forward. I can’t control any of the moves but giving the team a chance to win is the first thing I’m thinking about.”

After quickly falling behind the Cubs, the Brewers tied it in the third against Justin Steele. With one out, Andruw Monasterio hit a chopper to Steele, who initially had Sal Frelick caught in a rundown between second and third. Frelick escaped and scrambled to third as Monasterio took second before scoring moments later on Brice Turang’s sacrifice bunt. A bloop single by William Contreras plated Monasterio to tie the game soon after.

Crow-Armstrong’s run-scoring single in fourth pushed the Cubs back in front again, but the Brewers tied it once more in their half of the inning on Frelick’s groundout, which drove in Jackson Chourio, who led off with a double.

The game remained tied until the eighth when Ian Happ belted a go-ahead two-run homer off Joel Payamps. Payamps gave up a hit and two runs in one-third of an inning while issuing three walks.

“You can’t walk people,” Murphy said. “You’re in the Major Leagues and when you’re pitching at that time of the game, walks are not an option. If you look at our pitching staff, a lot of our success has come from not giving up free bases.”