With 'pen taxed, Crew needed depth from Harrison -- and they got it

WASHINGTON -- The Brewers needed one thing entering Saturday’s game vs. the Nationals: depth from starting pitcher Kyle Harrison.

Between Milwaukee’s finale vs. Arizona on Thursday and the series opener vs. Washington on Friday, the Crew’s bullpen had thrown 11 2/3 innings. (Of course, in doing so the relief corps had also allowed just two runs, for a 1.59 ERA over those two days.)

To say the ‘pen was taxed would be an understatement.

But Harrison, making his second start vs. the Nats this season, was anything but taxed. Despite some traffic on the bases, the 24-year-old navigated through six frames, trusting his defense en route to a 4-1 win at Nationals Park.

It helped that the Crew pulled ahead, 3-0, in a busy first inning.

It did not help that the Brewers struggled to get runners past second for the six innings that followed.

But regardless of the quiet middle innings, Harrison shoved, delivering his second straight quality start, as he gave up just one run on seven hits and one walk. He struck out five over those six innings, setting the table for Grant Anderson (two-thirds of an inning), DL Hall (one out), Trevor Megill (one inning) and Abner Uribe (one inning) to lock down the win.

In many ways, though, Harrison’s outing might not have been quite so “quality” if not for the defense, which turned a pair of double plays and navigated around those eight baserunners with efficiency.

And what the offense provided in that first inning was crucial, with five straight batters reaching base with two outs, taking advantage of a pair of walks and an error -- sandwiched between a pair of singles from William Contreras and Brandon Lockridge -- to take the early lead they did not relinquish. It was Lockridge’s two-run single that capped the frame.

Lockridge also had a key hit in the Crew’s one-run eighth inning, singling to load the bases with one out before Joey Ortiz’s RBI groundout gave Milwaukee some insurance.