Brewers ultimate sign of disrespect comes back to haunt them in walk-off loss

After taking two of three from the Chicago Cubs at home over the weekend, the Milwaukee Brewers entered Monday's action against the Colorado Rockies with a 50-34 record. They held a 6.5-game lead in the NL Central over the second-place St. Louis Cardinals. They had defied all the odds despite trading Corbin Burnes, being without Brandon Woodruff for the season, and having Pat Murphy replace Craig Counsell as their manager by being as good as they have been.

They entered Monday's game hoping to increase their lead in their division against a 28-55 Rockies team that will be clear sellers at the trade deadline.

Unfortunately, they dropped what turned out to be a very winnable game, in part because Murphy wasn't around to help them following a fifth-inning ejection.

Brewers big gamble fails to pay off in walk-off loss

The Brewers rallied from a 6-3 deficit to take a 7-6 lead in the top of the eighth inning. Unfortunately, anything can happen at Coors Field, and Brenton Doyle tied the game for Colorado in the bottom of that inning. Neither team scored in the ninth, sending the game to extra innings.

The Brewers had the first crack at taking the lead in extras and Christian Yelich stealing third gave them a runner at third base with only one out. The Brewers were unable to score, putting their team in a tough spot. The Rockies were set to begin the bottom of the inning with a runner at second base and nobody out in a tie game. A hit would win it.

After getting Michael Toglia to fly out, Milwaukee elected to walk each of Colorado's next two batters, Brenton Doyle and Nolan Jones, intentionally. This loaded the bases with one out. Jake Cave then singled to win the game for Colorado.

As dumb as this might sound on paper, the Brewers decision to walk those two batters intentionally made sense for a couple of reasons. First, Doyle and Jones both had multiple hits at the time (Doyle had homered in his AB prior), and they're both better hitters than Cave, who is now hitting just .247 with a .622 OPS.

Second, it set up the double play. One ground ball could've gotten Milwaukee out of the inning with the game still tied, and they had a force at every base. They risked losing the game on a walk or a wild pitch, but a hit would've won it either way. The Brewers picked to try and get out of the inning with one swing and face arguably the weakest hitter in Colorado's lineup at the same time. Unfortunately, it didn't pan out, and Cave deserves credit for stepping up.

While the Brewers decision made sense, it undoubtedly made Cave even more motivated to find a way to win, and sure enough, he did just that. This loss can really be attributed more to Milwaukee's inability to bring home their free runner rather than what went down in the bottom of the tenth.