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Brewers season ends in Wildcard Playoffs

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Brandon Woodruff

The inability to score runs almost cost the Milwaukee Brewers a trip to the playoffs.  Once they got there, the lack of offense is what did them in.

Clayton Kershaw allowed just three hits and struck out 13 in eight innings of work to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-0 win over the Brewers, sweeping their best-of-three National League Wildcard series two-games-to-none.

The Dodgers advanced to the National League Division Series in Arlington, Texas, against the winner of St. Louis and San Diego (game 3 Friday night).

Kershaw issued just one walk, to Luis Urias in the eighth inning, then picked him off of first base.

Brandon Woodruff was spectacular through four innings for the Brewers, striking out nine Dodgers.  His only blemish in the hit column was an Austin Barnes single in the fourth.  But the Dodgers broke out in the fifth.

Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor had back-to-back singles.  A.J. Pollock grounded into a fielder’s choice to third as Urias stepped on the bag for the force but his throw to first was in the dirt and couldn’t be gloved by Jedd Gyorko.  Barnes singled to drive in a run, then Mookie Betts doubled into the left-field corner to add two more runs, giving the Dodgers a 3-0 lead.

That chased Woodruff, who allowed three runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings.  As he walked off the mound, Woodruff yelled at home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott, who ejected him.  Woodruff was upset when he thought he had strike three on Barnes but it was called a ball.

The Brewers ended up striking out 28 times in the two games.  In their last 11 games (3-8), including the two playoff games, the Brewers scored just 20 runs.  They finished with an overall record of 29-33.

 

 

Suter struggles, Brewers drop Wildcard opener to Dodgers

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Brent Suter File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

Baseball’s best team didn’t dominate with their bats on Wednesday night, but the Los Angeles Dodgers did take advantage of Brent Suter’s early wildness to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 in their National League Wildcard series opener in Los Angeles.

Corey Seager homered in the win, but the Dodgers jumped out in the first inning by hardly having to swing the bat.  After a Mookie Betts double to start, Brent Suter proceeded to walk-in a pair of runs.  Suter had to start for the Brewers with the teams top starter (Corbin Burnes) and top reliever (Devin Williams) both sidelined by injury.

Suter needed 32 pitches to get out of the first inning and ended up working just 1 2/3 innings before manager Craig Counsell was forced to go to his bullpen.  Suter left after allowing three runs and three hits, with five walks in.

The Dodgers third run came off of Suter in the second when Chris Taylor doubled and scored on Betts’ second double of [Read more…]

Brewers in the postseason, despite losing record

By

Craig Counsell

The Milwaukee Brewers could have clinched a playoff spot with a win in the regular season finale at St. Louis on Sunday.  Instead, they took the tough rout, falling to the Cardinals 5-2 and then depending on help.  They got the needed help when both Philadelphia and San Francisco both lost, giving the sub-.500 Brewers (29-31) a spot in the National League playoffs.

The Phillies 5-0 setback against Tampa Bay finished ahead of the Brewers.  But the Giants were giving the San Diego Padres a run for their money and the Brewers were watching in the clubhouse after their loss, as San Diego pulled out a 5-4 win.

The Brewers are the No. 8 seed in the National League and will face the top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers (43-17) in a best-of-three series starting Wednesday night.

The Brewers are in and they’re not apologizing.

“We got ourselves a shot,” Manager Craig Counsell said.  “You’ve got to beat a really good team twice.  It’s the best team [Read more…]

Brewers no-hit by Chicago’s Mills (AUDIO)

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Making just his 15th major league start, Chicago right-hander Alec Mills tossed Major League Baseball’s second no-hitter of the season, leading the Cubs to a 12-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday at Miller Park.

Mills walked three and struck out five, finishing with a career-high 114 pitch effort to improve to 5-3 on the season.  He retired Jacob Nottingham (pop up), Tyrone Taylor (strikeout) and Jace Peterson (ground out) to complete the no-hitter in the ninth.

Cubs manager David Ross became the 11th person to catch and manage a no-hitter.  He was behind the plate for former Cub Jake Arrieta’s no-hitter back in 2016.

Mills had never pitched a complete game in the majors.  He was a walk-on in college at Tennessee-Martin and was cut by the Kansas City Royals.

Mills no-hitter was the 16th in Cubs franchise history.  It was also the second time a Cubs pitcher tossed a no-hitter at Miller Park.  Carlos Zambrano no-hit the Astros on Sept. 14, 2008 in a game moved from Houston because of Hurricane Ike.

The Brewers hit into 11 hard-hit outs, as tracked by StatCast.  Mills generated just five swings and misses in the game. [Read more…]

Home runs propel Brewers to split with Tigers

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The Milwaukee Brewers fell behind 4-0 and 5-1 on Wednesday night before rebounding for a 8-5 win in their series finale with the Detroit Tigers at Miller Park.  The loss snapped Detroit’s six-game winning streak.

Brewers manager Craig Counsell improved his career record to 422-400 and tied Tom Trebelhorn for third place on the Brewers’ all-time list for wins by a manager.

Tiger pitchers issued a season high 10 walks, four of the ten to Christian Yelich.  The Tigers also hit two batters.  Six of those walks turned into runs for the Brewers.

Keston Hiura clubbed a three-run homer, his 9th of the season.  Jace Peterson gave the Brewers some insurance with a two-run home run in the eighth.

The win gave the Brewers a 6-4 record on their 10-game homestand.

Eric Yardley (2-0) got the win in relief of Adrian Houser.  Yardley pitched two solid innings of relief.  Houser gave up five runs and nine hits in five innings.

Devin Williams worked a perfect eighth and Josh Hader finished off the Tigers in the ninth with his ninth save.  In 12 appearances and 11 2/3 innings, Hader still hasn’t allowed a base hit.  Williams has allowed just four hits and one run in 16 innings, forming a rock solid 1-2 punch for the Brewers in the bullpen.

The Brewers have the day off on Thursday.  They’ll open a three-game series in Cleveland against the Indians on Friday night.

Brewers fall to Pirates as offense disappears

By

Brandon Woodruff

The Milwaukee Brewers inconsistent offensive play took a step back again on Sunday in a 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Miller Park.

The Brewers (15-18) managed just six hits and a run, despite having a number of opportunities to cash in offensively.  The stranded 13 base runners in the loss.

Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff served up home runs to Josh Bell and Gregory Polanco, accounting for three of the Pirates five runs.  The Brewers ace fell to 2-3 with a 3.67 ERA in eight starts.  The opposition is hitting just .236 against him, but Woodruff hasn’t had a lot of run support to speak of.

Woodruff had other things on his mind too, namely his wife Jonie set to deliver the couples baby on Tuesday morning.  Woodruff left Milwaukee after Sunday’s game, to Mississippi to be with his wife.  If all goes well, he’ll be back with the Brewers for his next start.

The Brewers scored their only run in the third inning on a single by Keston Hiura.

The Brewers and Pirates wrap up the four-game series at Miller Park tonight.  Trevor Williams (1-5, 5.34) goes for the Pirates.  The Brewers haven’t announced a starter for the game but will likely need to make a roster move before the game.

Brewers follow Bucks, walk out on games in protest (AUDIO)

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Just a couple of hours after the Milwaukee Bucks decided against playing their playoff game with Orlando in protesting the police shooting of Kenosha’s Jacob Blake, the Milwaukee Brewers followed by voting not to play their game Wednesday night against the Cincinnati Reds.

The Reds were completely on board with the decision, which meant there would be no possibility of a forfeit.

The Brewers issued a statement on the postponement:

“The players from the Brewers and Reds have decided to not play tonight’s baseball game.  With our community and our nation in such pain, we wanted to draw as much attention to the issues that really matter, especially racial injustice and systemic oppression.”

I’m very proud of them,” manager Craig Counsell said afterward.  “I think they did a courageous thing.  First of all, what the Bucks did and what the NBA players have done, they’ve certainly been leaders, but our players did a courageous thing in Major League Baseball.  They went first and I’m proud of them for that. [Read more…]

Brewers capture second straight over Reds

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The Milwaukee Brewers won their second straight on Tuesday night, 3-2 over the Cincinnati Reds at Miller Park and the fifth inning will be one to remember.

Trailing 3-2, the Reds loaded the bases with no outs.  That’s when the Brewers started to get a few breaks.  Cincinnati’s Joey Votto was called out on strikes on a pitch that appeared to be inside.  Cincinnati’s next hitter, Nick Castellanos singled to right.  Brewers right fielder Ben Gamel played the ball on one hop and threw a strike home to force Freddy Galvis at the plate.  The umpire originally called Galvis safe after forgetting that the force was in order.  He was quickly corrected by Brewers manager Craig Counsell and he reversed the call.  Jesse Winker then popped out and Brewers ace Brandon Woodruff was out of the jam with no damage.

Woodruff (2-2) would pitch the sixth inning as well, finishing his night by allowing two runs on four hits with a walk and eight strikeouts.

Brent Suter struck out the side in the seventh.  Devin Williams pitched a scoreless eighth and Josh Hader came in to record his seventh save.  Hader has yet to allow a hit out of the bullpen this season.

Luis Castillo (0-4) was the tough luck loser for the Reds.  He pitched 6-innings, allowing three runs (1-earned) on five hits.  He walked four and struck out nine.

Game three of the four game series is Wednesday night at Miller Park.

 

Brewers snap 4-game slide, beat Reds

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Craig Counsell – Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

Entering Monday nights series opener against Cincinnati, the Milwaukee Brewers had been outscored 37-5 in the opening two innings of games this season.  Facing Reds starter Trevor Bauer, who entered the game with the majors best ERA at 0.68, wasn’t looking good for the Brewers.  Not to mention, Bauer allowed just one run on three hits while striking out 12 in a 8-3 Reds victory over the Brewers on August 7.

The recipe for success wasn’t a good one, but the Brewers had other ideas.

Justin Smoak’s first-inning RBI single put the Brewers up early and they would never trail in a 4-2 win over the Reds at Miller Park.  Smoak also clubbed a two-run homer, while Omar Narvaez also went deep as the Brewers had a 4-0 lead in the first four innings, on the way to victory. [Read more…]

Brewers swept by Pirates (Audio)

By

Craig Counsell

The Pittsburgh Pirates entered their three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers with just four wins (4-17) and the worst offense in baseball.  When the smoke cleared on Sunday, the Pirates had a three-game sweep, outscoring the Brewers 24-11 in the series.

The Brewers were trying to salvage the final game of the series on Sunday at PNC Park, leading 4-3 in the 8th.  That’s when Pittsburgh’s Gregory Polanco clubbed a two-run home run off of reliever David Phelps to give the Pirates a 5-4, come-from-behind win.  It was the first home run allowed by Phelps in 10 appearances this season.

Once again, the Brewers struggled out of the gates, falling behind 2-0.  They went hitless in the first three innings and have now been outscored 37-5 in the first two innings of their 26 games.

The Brewers would eventually tie it 2-2 on a run scoring double by Justin Smoak and a run scoring single  by Omar Narvaez.  They then took the lead in the sixth when Smoak clubbed a 2-run homer for a 4-2 lead. [Read more…]