Rays 4, Brewers 3: Pat Murphy ejected after controversial play in sixth

TAMPA, Fla. – The Milwaukee Brewers opened their latest road trip in frustrating – and controversial – fashion on Friday night, May 9.

The Tampa Bay Rays went ahead in the sixth inning, when Caleb Durbin was called for interfering with a baserunner attempting to slide back into third.

Christopher Morel was sent home and Pat Murphy to the showers not long thereafter for giving third-base umpire James Moye a sizeable piece of his mind.

The Brewers did rally to tie it in the eighth, but Jared Koenig walked in the decisive run in the bottom of the frame and the Brewers eventually lost, 4-3, at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

"All I'm going to tell you is I still disagree with it," Murphy said after the game, still clearly peeved at the outcome. "They'll tell me I'm wrong because anytime you argue it they tell you you're wrong and they give you their judgmental opinion.

"The bottom line is, you can never be right and then you get a fine and then nobody says a word."

Milwaukee actually out-hit Tampa Bay, 8-7, but dropped to 7-13 on the road and 19-20 overall. Jackson Chourio (three) and Rhys Hoskins (two) combined for five hits, but Chourio also committed the first error of his career in the third inning that allowed the Rays to score their first run.

Tampa Bay takes the lead, and Pat Murphy is ejected

In a 2-2 game in the sixth, the first two batters reached against José Quintana, then Morel tagged and went to third on a flyout.

Nick Mears replaced Quintana, and with Curtis Mead at the plate, Junior Caminero attempted a steal of second. William Contreras threw down and Turang caught the ball short of the base and threw over to third on a bang-bang play.

But Hoye – also the crew chief – ruled Durbin impeded Morel on his head-first slide back in and awarded him home with Caminero also taking second.

"Brice did a great job at running the guy back and made the throw to third," Durbin said. "Morel got a little too far off, made the throw to me and you're not really thinking in that situation; you're just reacting. I put the tag on him, and they called obstruction."

Brewers third baseman Caleb Durbin slaps a tag on Christopher Morel of the Rays but is called for obstruction, allowing Morel to score during the sixth inning May 9 at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla.

That brought Murphy out of the dugout in a hurry, and before long he was ejected by Hoye as the skipper was about as heated as he's ever been in a Milwaukee uniform.

A similar call went against the Brewers at first base in the second inning of a 4-0 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.

"This is the second time in a couple days we've gotten this call," Murphy said. "It had no bearing on the play. The kid's hand didn't go into anybody else, the kid clearly got into the base fine. It didn't obstruct him from going to the base and they still made the call because they say, 'We're mandated to make the call.'

"Then, you can pick out 30 other calls and then they say, 'Well, it's too much for us to look at.' So, the bottom line is it changed the game. We had the momentum going, Mears came in and got the big out, there was two outs, they're trying to steal a run and we executed perfectly and we get that call against us and the run scores.

"It's just unfortunate. It's clearly not what the rule was intended to do."

Yet another call goes against Milwaukee

On April 26 at St. Louis, there was another funky call that went against Milwaukee when Jackson Chourio was called out going to second base. Chourio was hit in the back of his left shoulder on a throw from the Cardinals' first baseman Willson Contreras and the ball caromed into left field.

"It's a bad rule, and it cost us the game," said Murphy. "Just like the other rule with Jackson purposely getting in the way of the throw – it's a judgment call and when they want to call it against you and they feel like it, they do it."

The Brewers got a measure of revenge when Contreras then picked Caminero off second base, a call upheld on a Rays challenge, but they still trailed by a score of 3-2.

Quintana, meanwhile, allowed five hits, three runs (one earned) and walked a pair with three strikeouts over 75 pitches.

He also surpassed the 2,000-inning mark for his career, making him just the fifth active pitcher to reach the mark. He's also tied with Lance Lynn for third-most starts made since 2012.

Milwaukee battles back – for a bit

Turang drew a leadoff walk in the eighth, went to second on a groundout and with two outs came in to score on a Rhys Hoskins single to left, tying it at 3-3.

A nice answer to all the craziness in the previous inning.

But the good feelings didn't last long. Koenig surrendered consecutive singles to start the bottom of the frame, then a one-out walk to load the bases.

Koenig rallied with a strikeout and then got to a full count against Taylor Walls only to walk him, forcing in the go-ahead run.

Jackson Chourio singled with two outs in the ninth but Brice Turang grounded out to end it.

"It was one of the factors in the game because the momentum was shifting towards us," Murphy said when asked if he felt the interference call cost the Brewers the game. "We're still tied, top of our order coming up – I feel like that was the turning point.

"But you've got to finish the game. One call doesn't make a game. Shouldn't make a game. But that was a critical one, and a very big momentum change for us."

Milwaukee goes back in front, briefly

A leadoff walk by Contreras and single by Christian Yelich put two on in the fourth, and Sal Frelick reached on catcher's interference to load the bases.

Durbin then grounded out to second to drive in Yelich, but the budding rally fizzled at that point.

The Rays got that run back in the bottom of the frame, however, on a Brandon Lowe solo homer that made it 2-2.

Rays shortstop Taylor Walls hustles all the way from first on a single and two-base fielding error as Brewers shortstop Joey Ortiz awaits the through from the outfield during the third inning May 9 at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla.

A first for Jackson Chourio

Chourio entered the night having yet to commit an error (182 games, 380 chances).

That streak came to an end in the third inning when, after a leadoff single by Walls, he overran what should have been a single by José Caballero and the ball rolled all the way to the wall.

Chourio reached on a swinging bunt to open. Two batters later, after a Chourio stolen base, Contreras lined a single to center to give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead.

Contreras was swinging a newly doctored bat with extra padding on the handle to help him deal with the pain stemming from his broken left middle finger.

Brewers bid adieu to Vinny Capra (for now, at least)

The Brewers also made several roster moves prior to the game, recalling left-hander Bryan Hudson and infielder Andruw Monasterio and designating infielder Vinny Capra for assignment.

"He was on the 40-man for almost two years," said Murphy. "Had a great run. Got every ounce out of his ability, he really has. And, I think he's not done playing. I know his numbers were ugly, but he did some really good things.

"I trust him as a player. So, if he ends up sticking with us, if he doesn't get picked up, I'd have no problem bringing him back to the big leagues."

What time is the Brewers game tonight?

Time: 6:05 p.m.

What channel is the Brewers game on tonight?

TV channel: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin

Brewers lineup

• Jackson Chourio CF
• Brice Turang 2B
• William Contreras C
• Christian Yelich DH
• Rhys Hoskins 1B
• Sal Frelick RF
• Caleb Durbin 3B
• Jake Bauers LF
• Joey Ortiz SS

May 3, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Jose Quintana (62) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Rays lineup

• Yandy Díaz DH
• Christopher Morel LF
• Junior Caminero 3B
• Brandon Lowe 2B
• Danny Jansen C
• Curtis Mead 1B
• Taylor Walls SS
• José Caballero RF
• Chandler Simpson CF

Brewers schedule

Brewers at Rays, 3:10 p.m. May 10. Milwaukee RHP Tobias Myers (1-0, 3.65) vs. Tampa Bay RHP Taj Bradley (3-2, 4.43). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.

Brewers at Rays, 12:40 p.m. May 11. Milwaukee RHP Chad Patrick (2-3, 3.08) vs. Tampa Bay RHP Drew Rasmussen (1-3, 3.09). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.