ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ As the Milwaukee Brewers' offense continues to sputter, the pitching staff has stepped its performance up to a new level.
Beginning with a terrific seven-inning start from Zach Davies and ending with tough relief by Jacob Barnes and Anthony Swarzak, the Brewers gutted out their second straight nail-biter against the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-0, on Saturday night at Tropicana Field.
Davies pitched seven innings of one-hit ball, then Barnes gutted his way through a tough eighth to keep the Rays off the board before Swarzak finished up to earn his first save as a member of the Brewers.
Milwaukee's pitching staff has put up 22 consecutive scoreless innings. On the strength of that, the Brewers have posted consecutive shutouts for the first time since July 19-21 of 2013, when they shut out the Marlins in a three-game series at Miller Park.
Orlando Arcia's RBI single in the third put Milwaukee ahead to stay, and Hernan Perez's homer in the ninth provided some insurance as the Brewers remained within a half-game of the Chicago Cubs in the Central Division race.
The game got off to a tough start for the Brewers when third baseman Travis Shaw was injured in the second.
After opening the inning with a single off Alex Cobb, Shaw attempted a two-out steal of second base. He made it safely, but it came at a cost as catcher Jesus Sucre's throw hit Shaw in his neck near his ear and jaw.
Shaw remained down for several minutes before getting up and walking off under his own power. He was replaced by Perez.
Shaw suffered a neck contusion and is considered day-to-day.
Milwaukee took the lead the next inning with a crazy sequence.
After Keon Broxton led off with a single and stole second, Arcia sent a soft blooper to center. Broxton, attempting to steal third on the play, was around third when centerfielder Steven Souza, Jr. made a diving catch attempt.
Broxton reversed gears and began heading back to second but Souza failed to come up with the ball. So Broxton again turned on the jets and scored after the ball squirted away from Souza.
Arcia, who was credited with a double, then tried stealing third himself but was thrown out. Two batters later Domingo Santana singled, a play that likely would have scored Arcia.
Ryan Braun ended the Brewers' third by lining out, leaving them with just one run to show for three hits.
The lack of offense behind him didn't bother Davies, who sailed through the first four innings allowing only a walk. He generated seven ground-ball outs in that span, several of which came via shifts, and needed just six pitches to retire the Rays in the fourth.
Davies needed to work a little harder to get out of the fifth, with a double error by Perez putting a runner on second with one out.
The runner advanced to third on a wild pitch and Davies then issued a two-out walk, but a flyout to center left Tampa Bay hitless through five.
A one-out single to center by Lucas Duda in the sixth ended the no-hit bid. Davies responded by inducing a 6-4-3 double-play grounder from Evan Longoria, with his pitch count at only 82.
The Brewers managed only five hits off Cobb, who departed after six innings, and none after the fourth. They walked once in the fifth and once in the eighth and advanced only one of those runners to second.
Davies' night ended after the seventh, which was capped by Braun's catch of a Brad Miller drive at the left-field wall. He allowed the lone hit and two walks while striking out two over 95 pitches to improve to 13-5.
Manager Craig Counsell called on Barnes for the eighth, and he immediately found trouble when Adeiny Hechavarria greeted him with a single.
Barnes recorded the next out before Sucre, the No. 9 hitter, blooped a single down the right-field line between Santana and Eric Sogard. The situation worsened when Manny Pina tried picking Hechavarria off second but instead threw the ball into center.
Broxton made matters worse by throwing to third rather than second, allowing the potential go-ahead run to move into scoring position. Barnes recovered with a strikeout, but then hit Duda to load the bases for Longoria.
Incredibly, Barnes escaped a few pitches later when Longoria flew out to Broxton.
Perez opened the ninth with a homer off Ryne Stanek to provide some breathing room, and the Brewers got a second run via a wild pitch later in the inning.
With both Corey Knebel and Josh Hader unavailable, Counsell turned to Swarzak for the ninth. He responded with a scoreless frame, earning his first Brewers save and the second of his career.
