Gästebuch » The Milwaukee Brewers will have to forget fast

WASHINGTON — as they continue their pursuit of a playoff spot by concluding a three-game series with the Washington Nationals on Sunday.The Brewers led the Nationals 3-1 in the eighth inning Saturday but ended up on the wrong end of a 5-4 decision in a game that was delayed nearly two hours by rain and ended well past midnight.The Nationals mounted a two-out rally against reliever Joakim Soria and Juan Soto and capped it with a two-run single against Dan Jennings with Milwaukee closer Josh Hader unavailable.Article continues below ...With a win Starlin Castro Jersey , the Brewers (76-61) would have moved into the top wild-card spot in the National League.“I think we’ll be fine,” Milwaukee starter Chase Anderson said after giving up one run in five innings. “I know how we respond to things. Our bullpen’s picked up the starters a lot this year. Just gotta pick those guys up.”Soto had three hits to raise his average to .301 and Washington (68-68) climbed back to .500 as it tries to stay in the playoff picture.Adam Eaton started the rally with a two-out double, Trea Turner singled him home, and Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon walked to set up Soto.“It’s a testament to the boys. They don’t quit,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “They wanted to get back out there and play. They got the field ready. Stopped raining for us. We were able to come back and get a big win.”Milwaukee right-hander Junior Guerra (6-9, 4.09) opposes rookie right-hander Jefry Rodriguez (2-1, 4.54) in Sunday’s rubber game.Guerra is 0-4 with a 7.28 ERA in his last eight starts. He has allowed six earned runs in two of his last three starts. Last time out he only lasted 1 1/3 innings, allowing six runs and eight hits.Brewers manager Craig Counsell said the team did not consider skipping Guerra in the rotation.“We feel like Junior has pitched well for us this year,” Counsell said. “I won’t tell you his last start was a good start. I will tell you the starts before that were much better than they looked. There’s a lot of indicators that say those were not bad starts, they were bad luck.“I think that’s why Junior’s getting the ball still. We still believe he’s throwing the ball well.”Guerra is 1-0 with a 1.88 ERA in three games (two starts) versus the Nationals.Meanwhile http://www.marlinsfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-bour-jersey , Counsell said newly acquired Gio Gonzalez won’t start a game in the Brewers’ next series against the Chicago Cubs but will be available in the bullpen.“He’s gonna get outs for us,” Counsell said. “He will play a role in this team going down the stretch. We made the trade and I’m glad we have him.”Rodriguez has a 1.69 ERA in his last three starts. Last time out he threw six shutout innings, allowing two hits and four walks, as the Nationals pulled way late for a 15-0 win over the New York Mets when they scored 14 times in the final two innings.“I think the biggest difference there is, before, I used to like to just battle with my fastball a lot,” he told MASN.com.“Now I’m mixing in my pitches more … using my off-speed more and getting more comfortable and confident with those off-speed pitches.”He’s making his first start against Milwaukee.Nationals catcher Matt Wieters is dealing with a hip/groin issue that has bothered him since Washington’s series in Philadelphia earlier this week. He didn’t start, but pinch hit in the eighth inning.Washington right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (right hamstring strain) threw a bullpen session Saturday. PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Gabe Kapler is keeping an eye on the NL playoff picture. He’s watching even closer to see how his Philadelphia Phillies handle their place in the standings.He was happy with their resolve Saturday night.Cesar Hernandez hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the fifth, seven relievers combined for seven shutout innings and Philadelphia beat Miami 5-4 for its second straight win following a five-game losing streak. That clinched the Phillies’ first series victory since a four-game sweep of the Marlins from Aug. 2-5.Philadelphia overcame a 4-0 deficit and closed within 6 ½ games of first-place Atlanta in the NL East with 15 games left. The Phillies remained five games back for the NL’s second wild card Kyle Barraclough Jersey , improving to 11-7 against the Marlins — including 8-1 at home.“We looked at tonight as an opportunity to gain a game in the standings,” Kapler said. “But, much more importantly, it’s an opportunity to win a series and to demonstrate there’s zero quit in this team.”The Phillies saw their 1 1/2-game advantage in the NL East turn into a 7 1/2-game deficit due to an 11-23 stretch from Aug. 6-Sept. 12 in which they failed to win any of their 11 series.Kapler has seen contributions throughout the roster the last two nights.“We’re really playing team baseball the last couple of days,” he said.JT Riddle had a pair of doubles and three RBIs for the Marlins, who have lost five straight and at 57-91 are trying to avoid what would be only the third 100-loss season in team history.Luis Garcia (3-1) got the last two outs in the fifth, and Pat Neshek pitched a hitless ninth for his fifth save in six chances. Philadelphia relievers allowed two hits, struck out eight and walked none.Phillies starter Vince Velasquez gave up four runs and four hits in two innings. Velasquez is 1-3 in his last seven starts and has gotten an out past the fifth inning just once since July 22.“If I had to pinpoint it, I’d say frustration got the best of him tonight and therefore we had to go to our ‘pen,” Kapler said.Marlins manager Don Mattingly started reliever Jarlin Garcia http://www.marlinsfanproshop.com/authentic-nick-wittgren-jersey , and the lefty pitched a perfect first inning. Miami used seven pitchers.Miami took a 4-0 lead with two outs in the second on Austin Dean’s RBI single and Riddle’s three-run double.Justin Bour, pinch hitting for Velasquez, hit a two-run single in the bottom half off Brett Graves, runs that were unearned because Dean allowed Carlos Santana’s fly to drop behind him on the left-field warning track for an error.Hernandez homered off Drew Rucinski (4-2).“We really just had that one tough inning with Rucinski,” Mattingly said. “And we couldn’t put anything else up on the board.”SWITCHESThe teams combined to use 39 players, including 15 pitchers. Kapler hit for shortstop Scott Kingery in the second inning before Kingery ever batted.SLOPPYPhiladelphia’s two errors increased its total to 110. The Phillies trailed only St. Louis (112) for most in the majors starting the day.TRAINER’S ROOMPhillies: 3B Maikel Franco (sore right shoulder) was out of the starting lineup for the third straight game.UP NEXTPhiladelphia RHP Nick Pivetta (7-12, 4.64) and Miami RHP Jose Urena (6-12, 4.29) are slated to start Sunday’s series finale.