As the Arizona Diamondbacks fight to remain in playoff position, the reigning National League champions endured a crushing loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.
Going into the bottom of the third in Milwaukee, the D-backs held an 8-0 lead. However, the Brewers methodically chipped away at that lead in the coming innings and wound up prevailing 10-9. The 8-run blown lead is the largest in Diamondbacks franchise history.
Josh Bell and Eugenio Suárez homered in the D-backs’ seven-run third inning, most of which came at the expense of Milwaukee starter Frankie Montas. Then, however, the Brewers went to work. They scored a run in the home half of the third, two in the fourth, another run in the sixth, and another pair in the seventh. Arizona counterpunched in the top of the eighth with a pinch-hit RBI single from Randal Grichuk. However, the Brewers put four on the board in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead for good. Rhys Hoskins’ two-run single tied the game, and then a slow-roller off the bat of Jake Bauers completed the Brewers’ comeback and gave them the lead for good. Here’s the comeback montage:
And the obligatory screenshot of the win-probability chart:
The exasperating defeat drops Arizona to 87-69 on the season. They’re in second wild-card position in the NL but presently just a half-game ahead of the New York Mets, who are in the third spot. The D-backs are now just 1 ½ games up on the Braves, who are right now on the outside looking in, which means Arizona’s playoff spot is far from secure.
As for the Brewers, they’ve already clinched the NL Central for a second-straight year. Sunday’s win pushed them to 89-67 on the season, and they’ll likely enter the playoffs as the No. 3 seed in the NL bracket. The unlikely comeback win on Sunday, which snapped a three-game losing streak for the Brewers, means they remain the only team in the majors this season without a losing streak of four or more games.
