Brewers' bullpen depth will be tested during rigorous stretch

MILWAUKEE -- Pat Murphy deployed his closer, Trevor Megill, with a four-run lead in the ninth inning of Friday’s series opener against the Cubs. That said something about Murphy’s sense of urgency about this series. Perhaps it said more about what Murphy thinks about his bullpen depth these days.

“I just respect this Cubs team,” the Brewers manager said on Saturday afternoon, before the non-leverage wing of the bullpen surrendered six Cubs runs in the final four innings of an 8-2 Milwaukee loss at American Family Field. “So, if we’re up four, I’m using the closer, and I don’t care if anybody doesn’t like it. I want to preserve the win. You can say, ‘The likelihood of them scoring four …’ I’m not going to do that.

“It didn’t serve us [Friday] night to do that because Megill threw 26 pitches, so it looks like a bad move. In my mind, it’s what I needed to do to preserve the win. You could say I don’t have confidence [in the other relievers] who aren't in those situations. It’s tough for them sometimes. A walk, a bloop and a blast is not too uncommon, especially for a team as hot as the Cubs are offensively. They’ve been pretty good, haven’t they?”

Yes, the Cubs have been pretty good at the plate lately, like they were on Saturday in taking a pair of two-out walks from Chad Patrick and turning a tie game into a four-run outburst in the sixth inning, and dealing the Brewers a defeat that evened the series with Sunday’s finale to go.

With the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline about five weeks away, Murphy has three relievers at the top of the trust tree: Megill, right-handed setup man Abner Uribe and durable, versatile left-hander Aaron Ashby. Then the question marks come in.

Veteran lefty Jared Koenig made his first appearance on Saturday since coming off the injured list and ran his sinker up to an encouraging 97.1 mph. He was the only one of the four Brewers relievers who pitched Saturday to deliver a scoreless inning. Joel Kuhnel surrendered a late home run against the Cubs, but showed mettle in the previous series in Cincinnati by getting to the finish line of another game the Brewers’ bullpen nearly let get away. Grant Anderson issued multiple walks for the third straight outing.

But the Brewers’ chief concern is Patrick, who began the season in the starting rotation before switching to relief, where he’d thrived at the end of last season and into the postseason. Over a stretch of 10 appearances from May 9-June 8, he had a 0.42 ERA and a ratio of 21 strikeouts to five walks. He hadn’t allowed a home run since April. He was earning high-leverage work.

But Patrick’s last six appearances look like this: 9 2/3 innings, 15 hits, 14 runs (all earned), six walks -- and five home runs, including the Happ homer on Saturday during a sixth inning that Patrick appeared to have under control. Pitching with the teams tied at 2-2, he had two outs and a 2-2 count on Alex Bregman before two big misses produced the first of back-to-back walks. Nico Hoerner gave the Cubs the lead with a single through the right side of the infield. Happ made it 6-2 with his homer.

“Chad Patrick’s been very inconsistent, and we’ll take a hard look at that," Murphy said. "He’s been an overachiever and I believe in him in the biggest way, and I feel for him right now that he can’t get on track. I’m certain he’ll be back -- I’m certain he’ll be back in top form, is what I mean. I’m certain of that.”

There are limited ways to do that, with the Brewers two games into a stretch of 18 games over 17 consecutive days. A team could option a pitcher to the Minors to get right, but Murphy's clarification about "he'll be back" seemed to indicate the Brewers are not leaning that way with Patrick at this time. A team could build in extra rest for a slumping reliever, but this stretch of the schedule makes that nearly impossible because the Brewers are using a six-man starting rotation for a time.

So, they may just have to push through.

"He's been so good for us. Guys, remember that," Murphy said of Patrick. "He's been so good for us, so clutch for us, that when you have hiccups -- just like Megill early on -- if you believe in the player and you believe in the stuff ... The stuff I saw tonight, it's two quick outs, he's got two strikes, and he loses his head a little bit. I don't think it's a matter of stuff. I think he'll be back on it."

There are few other options. The Brewers don’t have a day off until the All-Star break.

“You’ve just got to trust your stuff and find your routine,” said starter Kyle Harrison, who took a no-decision after allowing two runs in five innings. “I know it’s cliche to say, but you ‘flush it.’ At the end of the day, those guys are great down there and we’re just going to keep pumping them up with confidence.”