Chad

Patrick

Megill entered the ninth inning with a 5-3 lead, but allowed back-to-back hits to start the inning to suddenly find himself with runners on second and third and no outs. The Orioles would then get sacrifice flies from Samuel Basallo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand in back-to-back at-bats to tie the game at 5-5, with Megill going on to strike out Heston Kjerstad to end the inning. Megill wouldn’t return in the 10th inning, but was handed the win after the Brewers took a 6-5 lead on an RBI single by Sal Frelick. Reliever Chad Patrick would come on in the 10th and pitch a perfect inning to secure the win for the Brewers while tallying his sixth save of the season. Friday marked just the third blown save of the season for Megill and was his first since June 5th against the Rockies.

Trevor Megill and Abner Uribe both worked Tuesday and Wednesday, so Aaron Ashby had the eighth and Patrick got the ninth today. It’s Patrick’s fifth save, though his first in which he was summoned only for the ninth. Two of the previous four were of at least three innings.

It’s extremely rare to witness a save handed out in a game this one-sided, but that’s how the cookie crumbled at Truist Park on Sunday afternoon. Patrick came on to work the final three frames with Milwaukee leading by nearly a touchdown and needed just 40 pitches (30 strikes) to record the final nine outs.

Sproat was replaced by Chad Patrick just one batter after coughing up a grand slam to Daniel Schneemann in the fourth inning. He retired the first nine hitters he faced, striking out five of them, before melting down in the fourth. The 25-year-old continues to show brief flashes of dominance before his command ultimately falters and he implodes. That was the case in this one as he completely lost the feel for his fastballs, missed too many spots, and then hung a two-strike curve that Schneemann demolished. He’s obviously in jeopardy of missing his next start against the Reds on Monday. There should be some clarity on his status at some point in the next few days.

This one should have been over in 10 and earned Aaron Ashby his 10th victory in relief, but Las Vegas Ballpark said no to that, as Ashby gave up two homers in his second inning of work. Abner Uribe then worked a scoreless 11th for the win, and Patrick notched his 12th save. Trevor Megill will likely be back in the closer’s role on Tuesday.

Patrick’s last five appearances have seen him pitch one inning for a hold, four innings for a save, one-third of an inning for a hold, 1 1/3 innings for a save and now this four-inning start. He’ll probably head back to the pen this weekend, but he seems to get the job done however he’s used. he has a 2.60 ERA in 45 innings on the season.

Most three-plus inning saves comes in 11-2 games, but not tonight. With Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill and Aaron Ashby all working last night, the Brewers just stuck with Patrick as he allowed one hit, walked none and struck out three over the final four innings. He wound up throwing 52 pitches on three days’ rest in his third straight relief appearance. It looks like the Brewers intend to keep him in the pen going forward, making him pretty useless in mixed leagues. He’ll remain quite valuable to his major league team, though.

Patrick pitched out of the pen last time out, too, but that was a three-inning stint. That he was just used for an inning tonight suggests he might be in the pen at least semi-permanently. That’d be good news for Brandon Sproat and Logan Henderson, as both would be in line to keep their rotation spots when Brandon Woodruff returns. Quinn Priester, though, might overtake one in a few weeks.

Patrick entered to begin the fifth, which might have put him in good position to get a win tonight. The Brewers, though, never took a lead until winning the game in the 10th. Patrick, perhaps the game’s top utility pitcher whether he likes it or not, has a 3.15 ERA in five starts and three relief appearances. He might get a start next weekend against the Twins, but it’s not something anyone can count on.

Patrick struggled to find the zone consistently, and issued three walks against four strikeouts while also surrendering seven hits. The 27-year-old was coming off a strong outing against the Diamondbacks where he gave up just two runs over five innings, but he’s now allowed four runs in two of his last three outings while seeing his ERA pushed to 3.45. It would be a mistake in process to stream Patrick on Sunday against the Yankees.