Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Milwaukee 6, Washington 5
When: 8:10 PM ET, Thursday, June 11, 2015
Where: Miller Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Tim Welke, 1B - Mike Everitt, 2B - Tim Timmons, 3B - Todd Tichenor
Attendance: 26371

MILWAUKEE -- For different reasons, neither Will Smith nor Scooter Gennett has been around the Milwaukee Brewers much lately.

Each marked his return in a big way Thursday night, leading the Brewers' rally for a 6-5 victory over the Washington Nationals at Miller Park.

Smith was seeing his first action after being sidelined the previous six games because of a suspension levied by Major League Baseball for having an illegal substance on his arm.

The left-handed reliever came into the game charged with preserving a 5-5 tie that was created on a solo home run by Milwaukee center fielder Gerardo Parra an inning before.

Smith allowed a leadoff walk to right fielder Bryce Harper, struck out catcher Wilson Ramos, got shortstop Danny Espinosa to fly out to left, then escaped the inning by catching Harper trying to steal on a pickoff move.

"Harper's got good speed," Smith said, "so you've got to pay attention to him a little bit. What was it ... 0-1 count, guy's probably expecting breaking ball and takes off, and we guessed right."

Milwaukee got some luck in the bottom of the eighth as third baseman Aramis Ramirez struck out but reached on a wild pitch to start the inning.

An error by second baseman Anthony Redon on a fielder's choice grounder allowed Shane Peterson to reach second, representing the tying run and with two outs. Gennett then came through with a base hit down the line in left, putting the Brewers ahead.

"I was just looking for something to put in play at that point," Gennett said. "The first pitch almost hit me; tried to get out of the way. But that pitch, I was just trying to get something out over the plate and just put it in play, really."

Gennett was in his first game back with the Brewers, having spent the past three weeks with Triple-A Colorado Springs. He was sent down May 18 to get back into a groove after starting the season batting just .154 with a home run and three RBIs.

He was retired his first three times up Thursday, but manager Craig Counsell saw progress.

"I thought he had good swings tonight," Counsell said.

The late rally helped erase the sting of three errors that put the Brewers in a 5-1 hole and spoiled a good start from right-hander Matt Garza, who allowed eight hits over six innings while striking out seven. Only two of the five runs he yielded were earned.

"You just have to keep making pitches," Garza said. "(Stuff) like that happens, and you keep going, keep moving forward. You can't look back."

After the teams traded first-inning runs, first baseman Clint Robinson gave Washington a 2-1 lead in the second with his first career home run. He finished 2-for-3 with two runs.

The Nationals bumped the lead to 5-1 in the top of the fourth, as two Milwaukee errors led to three runs.

In the bottom of the fourth, right fielder Ryan Braun and first baseman Adam Lind both scored on groundouts to get the Brewers within two, and Lind's RBI single in the fifth made it a one-run game.

Milwaukee tied it in the seventh on Parra's homer. The first five Brewers runs came at the expense of right-hander Tanner Roark, who went 6 2/3 innings and allowed nine hits while striking out four.

"He really struggled tonight to find location," Washington manager Matt Williams said. "The balls were up in the strike zone all night. We got some runs via some miscues on their part tonight, but Tanner struggled to find consistency down in the zone. But we had a chance to win it."

Brewers right-hander Francisco Rodriguez worked a scoreless ninth for his 13th save in as many tries this season.

NOTES: Washington RHP Aaron Barrett left the game because of an undisclosed injury with two outs in the eighth inning. He will be re-examined Friday. ... Milwaukee recalled 2B Scooter Gennett from Triple-A Colorado Springs and optioned RHP David
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Washington   Milwaukee
Tanner Roark Player Matt Garza
No Decision W/L No Decision
6.2 IP 6.0
4 Strikeouts 7
9 Hits 7
6.75 ERA 1.50
Hitting
Washington   Milwaukee
Clint Robinson Player Ryan Braun
2 Hits 2
1 RBI 1
1 HR 0
5 TB 4
.500 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Washington 8 1 12 .229 17 9 1 2 0 1
Milwaukee 10 1 16 .286 14 6 6 2 0 4