MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers' already injury-riddled pitching staff took another blow in Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Cardinals at American Family Field when Jose Quintana left the game after the fourth inning with a calf injury.
Manager Pat Murphy said after the game that the veteran left-hander, a key cog in the team’s rotation this season, was in a walking boot and set to have an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.
Quintana, who has been battling for a spot in the postseason rotation, was hit on the lower leg by a comebacker in the fourth but remained in the game after being checked out. On the final out of the inning, Quintana hustled to cover first as first baseman Jake Bauers scrambled after a ball that he didn’t field cleanly. Bauers recovered and fired the ball to Quintana, who beat José Fermín to the bag.
Quintana appeared to be limping slightly as he headed to the dugout and was replaced by Aaron Ashby at the start of the fifth.
“Jose leaving with a calf injury, that’s alarming with how injured we already are," Murphy said. “It’s unfortunate, but the guys that did come in kept us in the game.”
Ashby, Grant Anderson, Chad Patrick and Jared Koenig combined to pitch five scoreless innings in relief, allowing just two hits.
When asked if Quintana’s injury stemmed from being hit by the comebacker, Murphy said he was told that the injury occurred as he covered first base.
Catcher Danny Jansen said he wasn’t sure how the injury occurred.
“It could have come from that ball off the ankle or wherever it hit,” he said. “Hopefully, he’s all good. He’s a stud. It’s always fun to be behind the plate for him.”
The Brewers are dealing with a slew of injuries to pitchers and can ill afford to lose Quintana with the playoffs looming. Closer Trevor Megill is on the IL with a right flexor strain. Relievers Nick Mears (low back tightness), DL Hall (right oblique strain) and Logan Henderson (right flexor strain) are also on the IL.
Shelby Miller, a key Trade Deadline acquisition as a late-inning specialist, is out for the season with a right UCL strain and is likely to have his second Tommy Johnson surgery, which would keep him out until late 2026 or early 2027.
Quintana (11-7) has been a steady part of the Brewers' rotation this season and has, for the most part, been effective, although he’s struggled in three of his last four starts.
Quintana ran into trouble in the second inning, giving up three runs while throwing 40 pitches.
“It was one of those innings,” Jansen said. “I thought we executed pitches and they put some good swings on some pitches outside of the zone and got some base hits. Definitely could have went the other way. He’s a vet. He’s been around forever and he knows what to do. It’s my job to get him back in the zone and I felt like we were rolling for a little bit after that inning.”
Quintana recorded 1-2-3 innings in the third and fourth before departing, in what turned out to be his second-shortest outing of the season. He gave up four hits and three runs in four innings. He struck out two and walked a pair in the 67-pitch outing.
“That’s a pitcher’s nightmare and it feels like you’ve got rotten luck, but you’ve still got to make pitches,” Murphy said. “I think Jose would love to have that inning back. But we had opportunities and we didn’t come up with the big hit again. It’s disappointing when every game means a bunch.”
The Brewers got solo home runs from Jansen and Caleb Durbin off Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas (8-10) to keep it close. Jansen’s leadoff homer in the fifth, his first since being acquired by Milwaukee at the Trade Deadline, pulled the Brewers to within a run. Jansen, who has 12 home runs on the season, hadn’t gone deep since July 20.
“It’s a month and a half later. It felt good,” Jansen said. “I’m just trying to compete each at-bat and pass it on to the next guy.”
The Brewers took two of three from the Cardinals in the weekend series and clinched a spot in the playoffs, but now may be faced with filling a hole in the rotation.