The Saturday night matchup between Brandon Woodruff and Mitch Keller turned into a pitchers’ duel for most of the day. A pair of two-run home runs made the difference for the Brewers.
Sal Frelick got the Brewers off to a quick start with a leadoff double on the second pitch of the game. Jackson Chourio almost added on a second hit in the next at-bat. He hit a pop-up that was falling into no-man’s land, but Oneil Cruz made a sliding grab to barely keep it from falling. Brice Turang moved Frelick to third
with a groundout, but William Contreras grounded out to end the top of the inning. Meanwhile, Brandon Woodruff started off well in the bottom of the inning. He allowed a two-out single to Bryan Reynolds, but that was all in a scoreless first.
From there, the starting pitchers settled in for a couple innings. Mitch Keller allowed a leadoff single to Jake Bauers in the second, but faced the minimum after Caleb Durbin grounded into a double play. Woodruff matched it with a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning, striking out two. The third inning was a quick one as both starters faced the minimum in their respective innings.
The fourth inning started out like it would be another quick one for Keller. Chourio grounded out and Turang struck out to start the inning. Contreras then hit a fly ball into no man’s land, and Cruz went for his second sliding catch of the night but couldn’t get this one. That set up Jake Bauers, who hit one out into the right field bleachers and put them up 2-0.
Andrew Vaughn tried to keep it going with a double, but Caleb Durbin grounded out to end the inning.
That was all that Brandon Woodruff needed. He kept mowing through the Pirates’ lineup with another 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, adding on his fifth strikeout looking in the process. Both starters traded quick innings again in the fifth, with Woodruff adding on another two strikeouts (his first swinging strikeouts of the day). Keller faced the minimum as well in the sixth. Woodruff had to work around a two-out single by Jared Triolo, but also finished with a clean sixth inning.
After Keller hit Vaughn with a pitch with one out in the seventh, his day came to an end at 6 1/3 innings pitched. He allowed just two runs on five hits and no walks while striking out four. Woodruff’s day was also done after the sixth inning. His day was stellar with six scoreless innings and just two hits allowed, striking out eight.
Kyle Nicholas was the first reliever out of the bullpen for the Pirates. He finished off the seventh with strikeouts of Durbin and Perkins. For the Brewers, they sent out Erick Fedde for his first relief appearance since his 4 1/3 innings on August 27th. It started out badly with Reynolds hitting a leadoff double. However, he settled in and got Tommy Pham to fly out and Nick Gonzales to ground out. Reynolds remained at second thanks to a strong throw to third from Frelick, and the groundout went to Ortiz.
It was a quick three-batter appearance for Fedde, and manager Pat Murphy went to Rob Zastryzny to finish the inning. He walked Cruz to start the inning, but got Nick Yorke to pop out to end the inning.
In the eighth, Nicholas got Ortiz to ground out before manager Derek Shelton brought in Evan Sisk. The Brewers jumped right on Sisk. Frelick used a low swing to shoot a ball into center field for a single. Chourio then hit a fly ball over the left field wall for the Brewers’ second two-run home run of the day.
They kept up the pressure with a single from Turang, then Contreras was hit by a pitch to put another runner in scoring position. However, the rally ended right there. Danny Jansen was brought in to pinch-hit for Bauers and promptly struck out. Vaughn followed it with another strikeout, and the inning was over.
Tobias Myers got the call to start the eighth inning. He began the inning with a five-pitch walk to Henry Davis. Cam Devanney flew out for the first out of the inning, then Triolo singled to put runners at first and second. Murphy kept the round of rotating relievers going and brought in Aaron Ashby. Shelton countered with a pinch-hit from Alexander Canario. That battle went to Ashby, who got Canario to ground into a double-play to end the eighth.
The Brewers tried to add on in the ninth. Durbin led off with a line drive right back to Sisk, and he made a no-look grab behind his back to record the out. Perkins then drew a four-pitch walk and made it to second base on a wild pitch. He then tried to steal third, but Sisk caught Perkins halfway to third with a good step-off move. Ortiz grounded out to end the inning.
Ashby remained on the mound to finish the game. He began the inning with a four-pitch walk of Reynolds but recovered with a strikeout of Pham. Gonzales almost made it a two-run game with a deep hit to left-center, but it just remained in the park and one-hopped over the fence for a ground-rule double. That kept the shutout going for the moment. It would be erased on the next batter when Cruz grounded out. Turang took the sure out at first, allowing Reynolds to score but recording the second out of the inning. Yorke was the Pirates’ last chance to keep the game going, and Ashby struck him out to end the game.
Frelick and Bauers led the offense with two-hit days. All of the Brewers’ runs came from two-run home runs by Bauers and Chourio. They scattered eight hits as a team, but went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Also, with his start batting third today, Turang became the fifth player in franchise history to start at all nine spots in the batting order in a single season.
Meanwhile, the pitching staff held the Pirates to five hits and three walks. Woodruff only allowed two baserunners in his six innings of work. The bullpen of Fedde, Zastryzny, Myers, and Ashby combined to allow one run on three hits and three walks.
With the win, the Brewers move to 6 1/2 games ahead of the Cubs with 19 games to play. Their magic number for the NL Central is down to 14, and it is at six for a playoff spot (pending the Giants-Cardinals game).
The Brewers will go for the sweep tomorrow afternoon behind Jacob Misiorowski. They will get their first look at rookie Bubba Chandler of the Pirates, who is making his fourth career major-league appearance and first start. First pitch is set for 12:35 p.m. CT, and it will be on FanDuel Sports Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.
