The Milwaukee Brewers walked into Minute Maid Park on Sunday morning still riding the high of one of their better victories of the season the night before − a win highlighted by William Contreras’ epic go-ahead three-run homer off future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander − and looking to take the series with the Houston Astros.
After an afternoon of mostly mundane play for six innings, Adames nearly provided another memorable three-run shot.
The Brewers shortstop took a mighty hack at a Bryan Abreu fastball over the heart of the plate and drove it 399 feet on a line to center field. It would have been a home run in 16 of 30 MLB ballparks, but not in Houston.
The ball landed safely in the glove of centerfielder Jake Meyers and the Astros survived the seventh-inning rally by the Brewers, a brief reprieve from a cacophony of frustration for the visitors, and stepped on the gas pedal once again for a 9-4 win.
“I didn’t think it was going out, but he crushed it,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.
Perhaps most notable from one of the more forgettable games of the year for the Brewers was starter Colin Rea, who struggled with his command and issued four walks while allowing five runs over 4 ⅓ innings.
“He put himself behind the eight ball,” Murphy said. “He didn’t have command of his stuff and Colin’s a command pitcher.”
The bullpen wasn’t much better in his stead as Thyago Vieira and Mitch White both gave up home runs to the red-hot Kyle Tucker, blasts that accounted for four key insurance runs for Houston.
Tucker, one of the best hitters in the game this season, struck out in each of his first three at-bats and had mostly avoided doing any significant damage to the Brewers.
