Crew can't capitalize on Contreras' early homer

TORONTO -- For one half-inning, it seemed like the Brewers’ offense had turned it around.

Milwaukee jumped to a two-run lead in the top of the first behind William Contreras' sixth homer of the season, only to watch the Blue Jays post seven unanswered runs in what finished as a 7-2 Brewers loss on Tuesday night at Rogers Centre.

The halt was jarring and immediate, too, with Milwaukee starter Adrian Houser allowing four runs in the bottom of the first.

“Any four-run inning in a nine-inning game is going to be tough to come back from,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We got off to a good start tonight, we had lots of baserunners against [Blue Jays starter Yusei] Kikuchi. We just weren’t able to turn them into runs.”

Contreras did his part on that front. After Owen Miller pulled a slider for a single with one out in the first, Contreras took advantage of another hanging breaking ball by Kikuchi, sending it a Statcast-projected 383 feet to right-center for a 2-0 lead.

It was Contreras’ second homer in as many games, and it looked like something Milwaukee could potentially build on – a spark plug from a big bat that may translate into a prolific night.

“William had a nice night against left-handed pitching,” Counsell said. “We’ve been kind of seeking some consistency, and William is a key part of that. He’s delivered lately against left-handers.”

But the power surge stopped there. Instead, Milwaukee managed just four hits in the loss – three of them off Kikuchi, who entered the outing with a 6.29 ERA in May. The visitors got their share of hard-hit balls, but those seemed to land in the glove of a fielder way more often than not.

Contreras also worked a pair of walks, as did Christian Yelich, but Milwaukee couldn’t muster any more course-changing moments from its big bats.

After the first inning, the one feel-good story about the offense was Andruw Monasterio, who celebrated his birthday by collecting his first Major League knock in the second before adding another single in the ninth.

“I’m very happy about my first hit,” Monasterio said. “But I’d rather get a win tonight, you know? That’s how the game goes.”

Milwaukee’s ongoing offensive struggles didn’t pair well with Houser’s first clunker of the season. After delivering back-to-back scoreless outings in his prior two starts, the righty allowed seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits and three walks over 4 1/3 innings.

Houser struggled with command early on, and by the time he got his fastball back on track, Toronto had followed its four-run first with two in the second and another in the third.

Not many of the Blue Jays’ hits were in the air, as 10 of the sinkerballer Houser’s 11 hits allowed were singles, but if the Brewers struggled with some bad luck, the home team seemed to find every possible gap on the ground.

“I just wasn’t executing as good as I had been in the last few games,” Houser said. “I was leaving the ball over the plate, and they were able to hit it just hard enough to find some holes and get through the infield. …

“It’s my fault for not making an adjustment there and not making some better pitches.”

For Houser, this was an outlier. For the offense, however, quiet nights have become too frequent.

The Brewers’ depth continues to be tested, too, as outfielder Jesse Winker was placed on the IL prior to the series opener with a cervical strain. That brought the number of Milwaukee players on the injured list to 12, including some key hitting contributors in Willy Adames and Luis Urías.

This wave of ailments with a sprinkle of bad luck will end sooner or later -- that’s the beauty of the long baseball season -- and the Brewers found flashes of that in their series-ending 7-5 win over the Giants on Sunday, when Contreras also played a key role.

As this team works its way back to consistency, it will need even more of what Contreras has provided. The next step is finding ways to keep the line moving.