Shane Drohan gets five-out save

It looks like Drohan, who gave up five runs in 3 1/3 innings in his last start Saturday, is going to finish out the year in the pen, and the Brewers put him right into a leverage situation tonight. He entered with one out and one on and the Brewers up by one and got a double play ball after allowing a single. He then started the eighth, only to be pulled after Oneil Cruz’s leadoff single. Still, it went as a hold, his first since May 12.

Drohan gave up five hits, walked two and struck out four. He’s allowed a total of 11 runs to the Reds over his last two starts, but the Brewers still managed to win both games. Drohan has a 4.35 ERA. He’s lined up to face the Orioles on the road next week.

Matt McLain and Eugenio Suárez homered off him. It might be about time for the Brewers to take a look at Drohan as a reliever, since he’s not at all likely to be a part of the postseason rotation. If they choose to hold off on that, he’ll likely face the Reds again next Friday. That one will be at home, making him a better bet.

Drohan gave up six hits, walked one and struck out six. He improved to 7-5 with the win. Drohan hadn’t won a game since July 31 against the Angels, a span of three starts. He has a 3.75 ERA in 27 appearances (16 starts) for the Brewers. Drohan is lined up to face the Reds on the road next weekend.

Gasser was thrust into action after Dustin May was struck by a line drive on the first pitch of the game and forced to exit. From there, he was stellar while pitching with a big lead from the second inning onward. The Mets briefly challenged in the fourth, but Gasser got a huge strikeout from A.J. Ewing before Francisco Lindor could come up with a chance to claw them back into this game. He found a tick more velocity on his fastball and that helped it to force seven of his 10 total swings-and-misses. We didn’t have a clear indication that he was out of the Brewers’ rotation, but more so that he and Shane Drohan were somewhat competing for the final spot as they shifted back to a five-man staff while also having fluid roles in the short term. A strong showing here may have earned Gasser another turn or two as a starter. Or, Milwaukee may have no choice depending on May’s health status.

McCalvy does suggest this could simply be to line things up for the next series in Wrigley Field against the Cubs and might not be a long-term strategy. However, it does mean that Logan Henderson, Shane Drohan, and Robert Gasser will start, in that order, against the Rangers this weekend.

Drohan was making his first start in 10 days after making a two-inning relief appearance Tuesday. He’ll probably pitch again next Sunday against the Rangers, which is a solid matchup. He’s allowed two or three runs in seven of his last nine starts.

Drohan allowed one run on a leadoff walk and a single in the fifth and then was pulled with a 2-1 lead in the sixth after walking back-to-back batters with one out. Antonio Senzatela replaced him and, after getting Teoscar Hernández to ground out, gave up a three-run pinch-hit homer to Max Muncy to add two runs to Drohan’s total. Drohan will have an easier assignment at home next week against the Mariners, making him a decent option in mixed leagues.

Drohan walked two batters through the first two innings, but neither came around to score. In the third inning, however, Drohan walked Ryan Jeffers with one out, which proved costly when Josh Bell homered to bring in Jeffers and cut the Brewers’ lead to 4-2. Drohan would fall victim to the long ball again in the fourth inning when he allowed a solo homer to Kaelen Culpepper, and Austin Martin would later drive home Victor Caratini to tie the game at 4-4. In the fifth inning, Drohan surrendered two more runs, as the Twins extended their lead to 6-4, and did not return for the sixth. This was easily one of the worst outings of the season for Drohan. His four walks tied a season high, while his six earned runs set a new season high. It’s the second time in three games that Drohan has allowed five or more earned runs, and he’s posted a 4.83 ERA over his last seven starts while going 3-2 over that span. He’ll look to correct course in his next start, which is scheduled for Wednesday on the road against the Padres.

After getting an extra day off in between starts, Drohan rebounded from a surprisingly weak showing against the Rockies to put together his fourth quality start in his last five tries. Workload could be a concern here down the stretch, since Drohan missed much of the previous two seasons, but he’s still looking like a solid mixed-league option for now. He’ll probably face the Pirates on Thursday.