MILWAUKEE _ Did the rebuilding Milwaukee Brewers provide their fans false hope by playing much better than expected for the first seven weeks of the season?
We are about to find out.
The Brewers are in their first real funk of the season after dropping their fourth game in a row Thursday night, 4-0, to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Miller Park.
The loss dropped the Brewers out of first place in the National League Central Division after an eight-day run. They are still three games above .500 (25-22) but have three more games against the surging Diamondbacks and a once-potent offense is struggling.
And there was more bad news. Catcher Manny Pina was drilled on the left elbow by a pitch from lefty Robbie Ray in the second inning and exited the game in considerable pain. Left fielder Ryan Braun, only off the DL a few days, departed in the fourth inning with left calf tightness.
Basically, nothing has gone right for the Brewers since they were rained out Saturday in Chicago despite an afternoon of no rain. They were blistered, 13-6, by the Cubs the next day, took a day off and then were swept in a brief two-game series by Toronto.
Now, this. Ray completely dominated the Brewers, allowing two harmless singles and no walks over seven innings with nine strikeouts. In his previous outing in San Diego, Ray pitched 72/3 scoreless innings, also surrendering only two hits.
Thanks to Ray and Co., Arizona had all of the offense it would need just one batter into the game. On the second pitch from right-hander Zach Davies _ a 0-1 cutter _ leadoff hitter Gregor Blanco whacked a home run to center.
Lightning struck again in the second inning when Chris Owings led off with an opposite-field homer to make it 2-0. Arizona scored again in the third inning and Davies had to work to hold it to one run. Blanco singled and scored all the way from first on David Peralta's double, followed by a walk to Paul Goldschmidt.
The inning fizzled when Jake Lamb grounded into a double play but the Brewers found themselves in an early three-run hole. And with the offense doing nothing, that would be more than enough for Arizona to boost its record to 30-19.
The Brewers finished with three hits, giving them 12 in the last three games.
