It has not been easy going for the third-place Milwaukee Brewers as they now fall to a current record of 8-7 after a frustrating final game on Sunday in the series against the Washington Nationals at American Family Field.

The Nationals posted an 8-6 win over the Brewers in front of a Milwaukee home crowd.

Right-hander Brandon Woodruff took the bump for the Brewers, starting off strong in the early going with four of his six strikeouts by the end of the third inning.

However, Woodruff’s outing would go south in the top of the fourth inning after Nationals left fielder James Wood blasted a solo homer to level the game at 1-1. Brewers first baseman Brice Turang put Milwaukee on the board with a home run to deep left field in the bottom of the third inning.

In the top of the fourth inning, a misplayed ball by Milwaukee first baseman Jake Bauers allowed Nationals second baseman Luis García Jr. to get on base, which began Washington’s onslaught of the inning.

The Nationals had runners on second and third with only one out for Woodruff. A sacrifice fly by shortstop CJ Abrams sent García Jr. home, giving Washington a 2-1 lead.

The lead for Washington lasted momentarily. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Turang hit his second home run of the day. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Milwaukee continued to apply pressure against Nationals right-hander Zach Littell, which turned the tables and put the Brewers back in front.

Woodruff recorded his sixth and final strikeout in the sixth inning before Milwaukee turned to right-hander Abner Uribe.

The Nationals jumped on Uribe early, causing him to lose control of an already tight game in the top of the seventh inning. A pinch-hit at-bat by Nationals third baseman José Tena led to Uribe being pulled after Washington tied the game at 3-3.

Strong situational awareness and baserunning allowed the Nationals to retake the lead. Their bats came alive and blew the game open, giving Washington a 6-3 lead with two outs in the seventh inning.

Milwaukee catcher Gary Sánchez added to the drama with two runners in scoring position, launching a deep home run to tie the game at 6-6. However, the Nationals continued to fight and, once again took the lead, going up 8-6 in the top of the eighth inning.

Washington turned to right-hander Gus Varland to close out the game. He recorded all three outs to secure his first Major League save and give the Nationals a sweep of the Brewers.

Although the Brewers did their best to put up a fight, several untimely errors caused them to lose their grip on securing the win. This will be a game that manager Pat Murphy and the Brewers coaching staff will take many lessons from as Milwaukee looks to turn things around against the Toronto Blue Jays in their next series.

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