Brandon Nimmo's 426-foot drive to right-center in the eighth brought the Texas Rangers within two and put the tying run on deck, but Milwaukee closed the door for a 5-3 win Saturday night at American Family Field.
The Rangers fell to 66-70 and dropped their fourth straight. The Brewers, at 85-51, stretched their winning streak to four. Texas remained two games behind AL West leader Houston, which lost 6-2 to the New York Mets earlier Saturday, according to the Associated Press.
Early damage and a quiet stretch
Jackson Chourio led off the Milwaukee first with a home run to center, his 20th of the season. ESPN measured the ball at 396 feet. Fans entering the park received cereal bowls with Chourio's name, the AP reported.
Cal Quantrill was a strike away from escaping the inning before William Contreras turned a 2-2 pitch into a 409-foot solo shot to left. Luis Lara added an RBI single in the second after Christian Yelich doubled and stole, pushing the Brewers ahead 3-0.
Quantrill (6-5) settled after that. He worked six innings, allowing four hits and three runs with no walks and a season-high eight strikeouts, then retired 14 straight hitters to finish his outing. CBS Sports lists his ERA at 3.01 and WHIP at 1.10 on 88 pitches, 58 strikes. ESPN's box matches that pitching line.
Nimmo was already in the middle of Texas' early traffic. In the first, Wyatt Langford was hit by a pitch, Nimmo singled, and Nimmo stole second before Ezequiel Duran struck out.
In the third, Nimmo's two-out infield single could have loaded the bases, but Cody Freeman was thrown out at the plate by Brice Turang trying to score from second, a baserunning mistake the AP flagged as costly.
Eighth-inning push falls short
Shane Drohan (7-5) limited Texas to one run over five innings with six strikeouts. That run was Freeman's solo homer in the fifth. Chad Patrick earned his 10th hold with 2.1 innings and surrendered Nimmo's blast. Antonio Senzatela recorded the final two outs of the eighth for his ninth hold.
In the eighth, Corey Seager walked to lead off. Langford flied out. Nimmo then drove Patrick's pitch 426 feet to right-center for his 14th home run and two RBI, raising his RBI total to 51 and cutting the deficit to 5-3 with the tying run coming to the plate. Duran singled against Senzatela before Jake Burger and Danny Jansen grounded out.
