In Milwaukee, uribe brewers became part of a wider conversation after Trevor Megill’s latest rough outing turned a routine ninth inning into a loud emotional moment at American Family Field. What happened next was bigger than one save gone wrong: it raised questions about patience, accountability, and how a team handles a reliever who has already done the job before.
What happened in the ninth inning?
Megill entered Tuesday’s game with a 4-3 lead and immediately ran into trouble. He walked Eloy Jiménez, allowed a ground-rule double to Davis Schneider, and both runners eventually scored. Kazuma Okamoto and Ernie Clement added RBI singles off him as the Milwaukee Brewers fell 9-7 to the Toronto Blue Jays in 10 innings.
The crowd booed Megill as the inning slipped away. He finished with a 14. 40 earned run average, and the loss pushed Milwaukee into its sixth straight defeat, the club’s longest skid since 2023. The bullpen’s inability to hold the lead erased a gritty outing from Jacob Misiorowski, who worked 5 1/3 innings despite feeling ill.
Why is Pat Murphy still weighing the closer role?
Manager Pat Murphy did not hide his frustration, but he also refused to make a final call on Megill’s role in the immediate aftermath of the loss. He said he may consider someone else in the ninth inning, yet wanted to avoid deciding in the middle of such an emotional night.
Murphy’s defense of the reliever was direct. “These aren’t machines out there. These are people, ” he said. He added that booing Megill was “in poor taste, ” especially given what the right-hander delivered last season. Murphy pointed to Megill’s late-season return from an arm injury and his save in Milwaukee’s Game 5 win over the Chicago Cubs in the NL Division Series.
The manager also stressed that Megill earned trust over time. “Did the guy save 30 games for us last year. I think he did, ” Murphy said. “My heart goes out to him right now. It bleeds for him. He’s feeling it. ”
How did Megill get here?
The contrast between last season and this one is stark. Megill had a combined 51 saves from 2024-25 and posted a 2. 49 ERA with 60 strikeouts over 47 innings last year. This season, he has allowed eight earned runs in five innings, and Murphy noted that the right-hander is throwing at a similar velocity to where he was at this point last year.
Megill did not dodge the issue. “I’m definitely way better than that, ” he said. “Pitches can be a lot better. Pitch execution can be a lot better. A lot of things can be better. ”
The pressure around uribe brewers is not only about one player. Milwaukee’s late-inning options are thin. Abner Uribe, who was one of the game’s top setup men last season, has allowed three runs in his last two outings and carries a 5. 68 ERA after finishing last season at 1. 67. Jared Koenig, who had 27 holds and a 2. 86 ERA last year, is on the injured list with an elbow issue.
What does this mean for Milwaukee now?
Murphy is trying to balance performance with human reality. He said Megill’s current form does not merit the closer role, but also noted that he can earn it back. That leaves the Brewers in a narrow, uneasy space: protect a bullpen that is struggling, support a reliever who has been trusted before, and decide whether to keep leaning on the same ninth-inning arm while the losses keep stacking up.
For now, the scene at American Family Field remains unfinished. The boos followed one bad inning, but the question lingers beyond the final out: in a season this early, and with so few clear alternatives, how long can Milwaukee wait before turning the page on the ninth?
