Brewers unable to hold lead, lose in 12
Spivey, Overbay and Miller hit solo homers for Milwaukee
CHICAGO -- On the eve of the 2005 home opener, the new-look Brewers looked
alarmingly old school.
The Brewers lost a lead in the middle innings, went 0-for-12 with runners in
scoring position and dropped a 6-5 heartbreaker to the Cubs on Todd
Hollandsworth's 12th-inning single in front of 39,076 at Wrigley Field.
"I had an opportunity tonight and I didn't get it done so, yeah, it's
frustrating," said center fielder Brady Clark, who hit a lazy popout with
runners at the corners and one out in the 11th.
Junior Spivey, Lyle Overbay and Damian Miller hit solo home runs for the
Brewers, and a slew of relievers provided bright spots, but Milwaukee's bats
went quiet after the Cubs forged a tie in the sixth.
Two days after stranding 16 baserunners in an extra-inning win, the team left
11 men on base in Sunday's game and lost its second straight after a 3-0
start. It was a familiar feeling for last year's holdovers, part of a 2004
Brewers team that hit .221 with runners at second or third, worst since the
1988 Orioles.
"It's like, 'OK, it's a different year,'" said Overbay, who led off the 12th
with a double, but never advanced. "We're going to break out of it at some
point."
Is it time to worry that the team's offense, despite the additions of Carlos
Lee and Miller, is not as improved as it has been billed?
"It's too early to tell right now," manager Ned Yost said. "We just didn't
get the job done. There's really no excuse. We can make up all the excuses we
want, but it all boils down to capitalizing on opportunities. We didn't do it
late."
"We've got a good team here," Miller said. "We're not going to let today
affect us, whatsoever. I'm not going to let it happen."
Jeromy Burnitz kick-started the Cubs' rally with one out in the bottom of the
12th inning, when his triple glanced off Clark's glove and smacked the
still-brown ivy on the center-field wall. Brewers pitcher Derrick Turnbow
(0-1) then intentionally walked Derrek Lee to set up the double play, but
Hollandsworth delivered a game-winning single over Spivey's head.
"There's nothing more I could have done," said Turnbow, who was happy with
his pitches to both Burnitz and Hollandsworth -- sinking fastballs low and
away. "It's always frustrating, but you have to let it go."
That's especially true since the Brewers traveled home Sunday night and were
set to host the Pirates on Monday afternoon in the fifth season opener at
Miller Park.
Glendon Rusch (2-0) pitched three innings of relief to win the second
extra-inning game between these teams in three days and the 18th since 1997,
the most of any opponents over that span.
Spivey and Overbay homered off Cubs starter Greg Maddux, and Miller's
sixth-inning home run off Todd Wellemeyer gave the Brewers a 5-2 lead. But
the Cubs tied it with three runs in the sixth charged to Tommy Phelps, the
first runs off a Milwaukee reliever this season.
Lefty Jorge De La Rosa worked the ninth and 10th innings for Milwaukee and
was a bright spot. He limited the Cubs to one hit and walked two, one of
those intentionally, and struck out five batters in two innings.
Starter Victor Santos did not help his own cause by issuing four walks in
five innings of work, but he limited the Cubs to three runs on two hits and
was in line for the win before the bullpen lost the lead in the sixth.
With his team leading, 5-2, Phelps made his fourth appearance of the season
and did not record an out. He surrendered three hits and a run before turning
it over to right-hander Ricky Bottalico, and a series of infield grounders
allowed two more to score before Bottalico could induce an inning-ending
double play.
That outburst tied the game at 5 and ended the Brewers bullpen's
scoreless-innings streak. In the team's first four games, relievers had
pitched 12 2/3 scoreless innings.
Carlos Lee said he would be available for Monday's home opener after an
injury scare in the 10th inning. He slid hard into Cubs second baseman Todd
Walker to break up a double play, and Lee's right shin appeared to connect
with Walker's left knee, and the players crashed in a heap.
Trainers from both clubs checked on the players, but Lee walked off on his
own accord and finished the game while Walker played out the inning before
being replaced. The Cubs diagnosed Walker with a sprained knee, but ordered
an MRI scan.
Spivey finished with three hits for the third time in four games, but he
missed a big opportunity when he was called out on strikes with runners at
the corners in the 11th. Miller went 3-for-5 and raised his batting average
to .500.
"We had a lot of opportunities to score and we didn't capitalize on any of
them," Yost said.
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