MILWAUKEE (AP) - With the bases loaded and Carlos Gomez at bat, the Brewers thought they finally had a chance to break through in the eighth inning after an otherwise frustrating day at the plate.
Hard-hit ball, but bad result for Milwaukee.
Gomez hit the pitch from Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Brad Ziegler sharply but right at shortstop Cliff Pennington to start an inning-ending double play, and most of his teammates had a tough time against starter Bronson Arroyo in a 3-2 loss Wednesday.
Arroyo (3-2) allowed an unearned run and five hits in 7 1-3 innings, his third straight outing holding an opponent to no more than two runs. Addison Reed got his 10th save in 11 chances despite giving up a run in the ninth.
“He’s tough. He keeps you off-balance. The one approach that seems to work is waiting him out, being patient,” Brewers second baseman Scooter Gennett said. “It’s easy with a guy like that that doesn’t throw too hard to try to do too much.”
Paul Goldschmidt had a two-run homer for the second straight game to back Arroyo, hitting an 0-1 pitch for his seventh homer of the year after Martin Prado led off the third with a single. Goldschmidt went 7 for 15 in the three-game-series.
Arizona took two of three from the team that entered Wednesday an NL-best 22-12. The Brewers are 2-6 after opening the year with a big league-best 20-7 record.
With No. 3 batter Ryan Braun out with an oblique injury and cleanup hitter Aramis Ramirez slumping badly, the offense has been choppy - leaving less margin for error for a pitching staff off to a strong start overall.
“I know the lineup’s not the same, but we still have enough guys in there that I think we should be scoring some runs,” manager Ron Roenicke said. “We’ll get it going, we’ll figure it out.”
Wily Peralta (4-2) allowed 11 hits, tying his career high, and two runs in six innings. Peralta managed to escape trouble all afternoon - except when Goldschmidt came to the plate in the third.
“Up in the zone with everything. Sliders were up, fastballs were up,” Roenicke said. “Two runs off after all those hits, (he did) a good job of battling.”
The 6-foot-3 first baseman loves hitting in Miller Park, where he has four homers and 12 RBIs in eight career games. His drive to left-center caromed back on to the field after bouncing off the facade above the wall about 370 feet from the plate.
“He’s throwing the ball good. He’s been trending in this direction and in total command today,” manager Kirk Gibson said.
Milwaukee closed within a run in the ninth after Gennett doubled down and scored two batters later on Lyle Overbay’s sacrifice fly. Reed struck out Mark Reynolds swinging on a high fastball to end the game.
Arizona stranded 13 runners, including leaving men at third three times through the seventh. But the right-hander, in his 15th year in the majors, kept the free-swinging Brewers at bay well into the afternoon, making Jonathan Lucroy flail on an 86 mph sinker to start the seventh with a strikeout. He ended the inning by striking out Reynolds on a slider.
“You think you get a fastball and then you sit offspeed,” Roenicke said. “The more swingers you have in your lineup, the more you’ll have trouble with him.”
Milwaukee wasted a solid chance in the eighth after pinch-hitter Weeks loaded the bases after singling off reliever Brad Ziegler. It loaded the bases for Gomez - whose grounder elicited groans from hometown fans.
Gomez and Gennett each went 2 for 4 with a run scored for the Brewers.
NOTES: Arroyo is among eight active pitchers to have appeared in a game at Milwaukee’s old home, County Stadium. Miller Park opened in 2001. … Brewers 3B Aramis Ramirez got a day off. The veteran is hitting .089 (5 for 35) since April 17. … Both teams get a day off Thursday. Brandon McCarthy (1-5) starts for the Diamondbacks on Friday when they open a three-game interleague series in Chicago against the White Sox. Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo (2-1) opens a three-game series against the visiting New York Yankees.
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