What a Game 4. It ended around 1:30 am central time with the Milwaukee Brewers losing 2-1 thanks to a Cody Bellinger walk-off single to right field. Christian Yelich nearly nailed Manny Machado at home, but the throw came in a little late. The series is now tied up at 2-2 where it becomes a best of three as they say and a deciding Game 5 happens in a few short hours. Brewers could not muster any offense all night, and there were a few questions that left me pondering Craig Counsell. The Brewers manager decided to go with Jonathan Schoop tonight over Hernan Perez or Travis Shaw to face the lefty HIll. He delivered with an 0-5 night. Mike Moustakas continues to struggle as well with a 0-for-6 effort mostly against left-handed bats. Counsell did not remove either player from the game. That might be a mistake that kept him up last night.

The other question is the decision not to bunt Manny Pina over when you had a runner on second with less than two outs. It’s very old school baseball and something the Milwaukee Brewers do not do usually. That said, a bunt there might have made the most sense considering how little offense the team was putting out on Tuesday night. Manny Pina ended up at third base after Lorenzo Cain failed to bring him in. Cain struggled in his own right with an 0-for-6 night himself.

Player of the Game: Freddy Peralta – What an outing by the young 22 year old thrusted into action on Tuesday when Gio Gonzalez goes down with an injury. Peralta pitched wonderfully in the game going three strong innings striking out six batters and walking three. After a testy second inning, Peralta settled down and silenced the Dodgers bats. He’s going to be a good one.

Silver Star: Junior Guerra – I know that Guerra gave up the winning run, but the guy pitched wonderfully for nearly four innings of work. Brewers gave him the ball after being nearly out of relievers in the 10th inning, and he held the water for the Brewers. Sadly, the offense could not deliver for him.

Honorable Mention: Ryan Braun – The only player who made a dent in the offense. Braun went 3-for-6 with a stolen base. He’s seeing the ball well right now. You wonder with the struggles of Cain and Christian Yelich at the top of order, would Counsell try a new lineup out that featured Yelich-Braun-Cain or something to that effect to give the players a different look in the lineup.

Next up
Clayton Kershaw gets the ball for Los Angeles in a must-win game for LA. Gulp. We know about some of Kershaw’s postseason struggles, but most come on the road. He tends to dominate at Dodger Stadium. Wade Miley needs to give the Brewers four strong innings then it’s time for Brandon Woodruff and we’ll see what the rest of the game looks like. Because baseball is fucking stupid, this will probably be a 7-6 game or something like that.

Charlie.