MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers struck first for three runs off Michael Lorenzen in the first inning. Although the Detroit Tigers answered by scoring a couple of runs, the offense couldn’t spark a rally to catch up on the scoreboard.
The Tigers lost, 6-2, to the Brewers in Wednesday’s series finale at American Family Field, winning the three-game series but failing to sweep. The Tigers (9-14) won twice and scored 13 runs on the six-game roadtrip.
“The boys are having good at-bats,” catcher Jake Rogers said. “I know a lot of guys are still hitting balls hard right at guys. The pitchers are doing incredible. I feel like we’re on the right path. We’re a few timely hits from scoring more runs, and once that happens, I think the boys are going to be pretty good.”
Rookie Joey Wiemer, who attended Michigan’s Temperance Bedford High School, hit a solo home run off left-hander Tyler Holton in the eighth inning. His second homer of the season extended the Brewers’ lead to four runs.
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After scoring two runs in the fourth inning, the Tigers had an opportunity to mount a comeback in the seventh inning when Akil Baddoo ripped a double off the first pitch from right-handed reliever Bryse Wilson.
Rogers advanced him to third base, in part thanks to Baddoo’s speed on the shallow fly ball to center field, but Matt Vierling and pinch-hitter Eric Haase stranded him at the hot corner.
Another opportunity showed up in the eighth inning when Jonathan Schoop hit a one-out double off left-hander Hoby Milner. Manager A.J. Hinch inserted Tyler Nevin, a right-handed hitter, as a pinch-hitter for Nick Maton, a left-handed hitter, but the Brewers countered by bring in righty Peter Strzelecki to face Nevin.
Nevin, who entered with one hit in 18 at-bats since coming up from Triple-A Toledo, struck out swinging on three pitches, then Kerry Carpenter grounded out to strand Schoop at second.
“You’re trying to find as many guys to get up there and match them up as best you can,” Hinch said. “Hitting Nevin there late brings the righty in. I got Carpenter a right-handed at-bat. We needed the big blow to get back in, a crooked number like that. We didn’t find it.”
Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta gave up two unearned runs on four hits with eight strikeouts in six innings. He didn’t walk a batter but hit Javier Báez in the left hand with a 93 mph fastball in the first inning.
Báez exited the game but X-rays came back negative for a fracture.
The Tigers also stranded two runners on base — Vierling (opposite-field double) and Riley Greene (pull-side single) — in the third inning when Schoop worked a long at-bat but struck out swinging.
The fourth inning began with a fielding error by right fielder Brian Anderson on a dropped fly ball from Maton. Two runs scored with two outs in the inning on Baddoo’s double and Rogers’ single.
“It was a tough matchup with Peralta for a lot of our guys,” Hinch said. “He was spinning the breaking ball in there, had all of his pitches, and the velocity was up. He’s a really good pitcher when he’s locked in. We tried to chip away.”
A rough start early
Lorenzen battled his way through five innings.
The veteran right-hander allowed five runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts across five innings, throwing 63 of 100 pitches for strikes. The Brewers scored three runs in the first inning and two runs in the third.
“One hundred pitches in five (innings) is pretty embarrassing,” Lorenzen said. “I have to figure it out.”
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Lorenzen allowed a one-out single in the fifth inning but responded with back-to-back outs — Brice Turang (strikeout looking) and Oakland U. alumnus Mike Brosseau (flyout) — to complete his third start of the season.
He generated eight whiffs on 44 swings.
“I was working against my own body the entire start,” Lorenzen said. “I was trying to wake my body up and trying to get it to move quick and get my arm to keep up with it. There was a battle going on the entire start. Trying to get my arm moving and in sync with the body was a little tough.”
Lorenzen opened his outing by hitting Christian Yelich, who stayed in the game, with a third-pitch cutter. (The hit-by-pitch happened almost immediately after Peralta’s fastball hit Báez in the left hand in the top of the first inning.)
Then, Lorenzen walked Jesse Winker on eight pitches.
With one out, Rowdy Tellez hit an RBI double to right field. The next batter, Brian Anderson, drove in two more runs, putting the Brewers ahead 3-0, on a single up the middle.
In the third inning, the Brewers benefited from Victor Caratini’s two-run home run to right-center field. The home run extended the Brewers’ advantage to 5-0. He hammered Lorenzen’s first-pitch cutter with a 109.4 mph exit velocity.
The ball traveled 403 feet.
“He’s got to trust himself a little more earlier in counts, as he did as the game went along,” Hinch said. “He got into a lot of trouble early and wasn’t pitch-efficient. They were working their at-bats.”
Bullpen pitches in
Two relievers guided the Tigers through the final three innings.
Right-hander Will Vest — recently recalled from Triple-A Toledo — pitched a scoreless sixth. He worked around a walk to Yelich and racked up three strikeouts against Wiemer (swinging, slider), Winker (looking, fastball) and former Tigers farmhand Willy Adames (swinging, slider).
Vest threw 13 of 20 pitches for strikes.
“When you do fall behind, the most important things are to chip away when you can with good at-bats,” Hinch said, “but also, the pitching has to hold you there when you have a big deficit. To me, both those guys did their part of keeping the game close and giving our offense a chance.”
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Holton handled the seventh and eighth innings.
He retired six of seven batters, but the one batter he didn’t shut down launched a solo home run off his changeup with two outs in the eighth. Wiemer’s homer traveled 383 feet to right-center field.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.