The Milwaukee Brewers saw their small winning streak come to an end on Sunday, and manager Pat Murphy got honest afterward.
The Milwaukee Brewers saw their four-game winning streak reach its ending with a 5-3 series-finale loss to the Miami Marlins on Sunday.
Despite the loss, the Brewers still claimed the series, and manager Pat Murphy talked afterward about what he saw, starting with the effort by second-year right-hander Jacob Misiorowski.
“I think it's admirable, the leadoff walks hurt him, that's unacceptable,” Murphy said. “I thought he did a nice job, he pitched five innings, nine punch outs, three hits, or whatever it was, three or four hits, one earned run. He's thrown the ball great, but we didn't make a play for him.”
After an ugly first inning, Misiorowski finished his outing in strong fashion by notching eight more strikeouts and not allowing any more runs.
“I just try to settle him down and say, ‘look, give up a run or two, that's fine, stay in the game and we'll come back and win,’” Murphy said. “And he did a nice job of settling in after they threw the ball good. Pitch count was up a little bit in terms of the efficiency that he needs. But I thought he threw the ball good, I think he learned something today about it.”
At 12-9, the Brewers continue to keep their head above water while dealing with a litany of injuries.
“We're battered, you guys can see that,” Murphy said. “Offensively, we've got three of our top five hitters out to battle through this. And they've been out —two of them have been out the whole year. So, I'm proud that we battle every game and we're in it. And we're not playing great, everybody's not playing their best. But at the same time, I'm really proud of it.”
Some of the key players Murphy was referencing include Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, and Andrew Vaughn. Yelich is dealing with a left groin strain, while Chourio and Vaughn are recovering from fractures in their left hands.
Without them, Milwaukee’s offense has often struggled. Currently, the Brewers’ collectively possess a .232 batting average, which is slightly below average at No. 17 out of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball.
Injuries to pitchers such as Kyle Harrison and Quinn Priester add to the difficulties the Brewers have dealt with as well.
“And then the pitching injuries we've had also, with one of our top starters, one of our top relievers,” Murphy said. “It's really good that we've hung in as young as we are on the mound. I think it's been really admirable and I'm not saying I'm satisfied or anything else, I'm proud of the club, the way they battle every game.”
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