Colin Rea, who reached a personal low last Wednesday with 10 runs on 11 hits in four innings in a 13-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants, spoke after his start of the need to draw a line under it quickly.
“Flush it away and move on,” he said.
That’s exactly what the six-year veteran did on Monday – and in an unfamiliar role at that – when he pitched the final 2 ⅔ innings as a bullpen to help the Milwaukee Brewers defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 at American Family Field.
Rea was rewarded for his efforts with his first save in his 91st game, a game in which the Brewers were 24 hours away from securing the Central Division title with another win while the Chicago Cubs lost to the Oakland A’s.
“It was a rough start,” Rea said, reflecting on his failures against the Giants. “I felt good, but I just left the balls over the plate. Tonight the focus was on being aggressive, but also knowing where I was going to miss. It’s a good lineup, and if you make mistakes, you’re going to pay for them.”
Rea, who has been a stalwart of the rotation for most of the season, was thrown in at the deep end in the seventh inning after Hoby Milner allowed a leadoff single and then hit a batter as the Brewers defended a 5-1 lead.
Rea got Brandon Marsh to foul, Kody Clemens to line out, and Kyle Schwarber to hit a 68.1 mph roller. Schwarber’s attempt ended in a run-leading single, and the Phillies decided to go hit and run on this play.
Rea then sent Trea Turner flying to the right and Milwaukee’s offense got the run back in the bottom half of the period.
A 6-4-3 double play wiped out a one-out single in the eighth inning, then Rea navigated around a two-out double by Brandon Marsh by inducing a Clemens flyout.
That earned Rea a Gatorade bath while giving his postgame on-field interview, as tradition required, and praise from manager Pat Murphy.
“Colin was told this morning, ‘We’re short-staffed (in the bullpen). Can you help us in the game today?’ I didn’t tell him at 7-8-9 (innings), I told him somewhere in the middle of the game,” he said. “He said, ‘Absolutely.’ Those are the guys you look for to build a team when you’re in a small market and with all the adversity we’ve had.”
Rea, as even-tempered as one can be, considered his willingness to pitch outside his comfort zone nothing special. He also got to exercise his willingness a little, hitting 95.5 mph twice with his four-seamer.
“They just brought up the idea of going into the bullpen and taking over a few innings if needed,” he said. “I personally thought it was a good idea. I agreed with them and was all for it.”
Murphy has said repeatedly in recent weeks that he and his team will be creative in how they continue to use their pitches, and Rea’s move was one of the first big examples of that.
Nevertheless, Rea (12-5, 4.14 ERA) will now re-enter the rotation and start somewhere in the upcoming series when the Brewers (87-63) play against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“That’s just the definition of this team, isn’t it?” Murphy said. “Everyone does their part and does what it takes.”
Another pitcher, another save
If closer Devin Williams had been healthy from the start, the back end of the bullpen would have been secure.
However, stress fractures in his back kept him out of action from spring training through the All-Star break and at times required the involvement of a closers committee.
Trevor Megill has done most of the work, saving a career-high 20 games so far. Williams is healthy again and has 12 games already. Joel Payamps has six. Abner Uribe and Elvis Peguero — both of whom are currently out of the team — have three and two games, respectively.
Then there’s Rea and six others with one each. In total, that’s 12 pitchers in the save column, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the most in the major leagues. The 12 is also a franchise record, beating the previous record set in 1973 by two.
And only the Tampa Bay Rays had more than 12 pitchers make at least one save (14 in 2021).
Thanks largely to the use of an opener at various times during the season, Milwaukee was able to field 17 pitchers per game, tying the franchise record.
“To be honest, I think that speaks a little bit for our front office,” Murphy said. “They just give us more depth. We always find a way because we sign the right guys who are willing to do anything.”
Hoby Milner delivers in an important situation
After being perhaps the bullpen’s best-kept secret in 2022 and 2023, Milner struggled mightily in 2024.
He entered Monday 4-1, but with a 5.12 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP in 56 appearances. He had 58 strikeouts in 58 innings, but batters hit him at a .275 rate and crushed one of his favorite pitches – the sinker – at a .395 rate, while he had a .580 slugging percentage.
The left-hander also had some bad luck, but his performance on Monday was that of a classic Milner.
Entering the game, starter Aaron Civale was up 3-1 with runners on first and second base and no outs in the sixth inning. Milner deftly navigated Philadelphia’s killer line of Bryce Harper (flyout), Nick Castellanos (strikeout) and Alec Bohm (sharp tapper back to the mound) to maintain the two-run lead.
He walked the first two batters he faced in the seventh inning, paving the way for Rea, but it was still an outing he can build on as he tries to solidify his chances of being included in the Brewers’ postseason pitching plans.
“It feels great,” said Milner, who joked that he was surprised reporters even wanted to interview him after the game. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to be back out there in such a big situation.”
“Honestly, it was more pitch to pitch than batter to batter. One bad pitch and the game changes. We just had a meeting about it the other day. Focus pitch to pitch and hopefully the at-bats will work out in your favor.”
