Article: Brewers 4, Cardinals 0: Milwaukee's Momentum Mounts

[Jason Wang]

In the first game of this hotly contested division rivalry, Milwaukee came away victorious despite a few hiccups. The team looked great from top to bottom as both gloves and bats worked together to secure the win.

Image courtesy of © Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score

SP: Brandon Woodruff - 5.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (84 pitches, 52 strikes (61.9%)
Home Runs: Willy Adames (1)
Top 3 WPA: Brandon Woodruff (.263), Joel Payamps (.069), Garrett Mitchell (.049) 
Bottom 3 WPA: Christian Yelich (-.013), Brice Turang (-.010), Brian Anderson (-.002) 

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Woodruff Continues to Shine
Despite the recent struggles of his teammate Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff has gotten off to an amazing start this season, currently maintaining an ERA of 0.79 and a WHIP of 0.882. In his first start against the division rival St. Louis Cardinals, he struck out four batters through a little over five innings, using five different pitches and showing excellent stuff.

His four-seam fastball had a little extra juice behind it, topping out at 98.5 mph, slightly faster than his average velocity of 96 mph. Combined with his breaking ball arsenal that included a slider and a curveball, Woodruff was almost untouched for the majority of his start.

In the fourth inning, Woodruff gave up three singles to Brendan Donovan, Alec Burleson, and Nolan Arenado. With just one out recorded, he was able to get Willson Contreras to ground into a double play, escaping the inning unscathed on the scoreboard.

Despite giving up zero earned runs in his start, Craig Counsell pulled Woodruff from the mound in the fifth inning to prevent excess fatigue and a potential Cardinals offensive rally.

 

Adames Gets His First Jack Of The Season Against Jack
The Brewers offense continued to perform well, although their bats seem to have cooled down significantly since their series against the New York Mets. Although opposing pitcher Jack Flaherty gave up quite a few walks (six, to be exact), the scoring didn’t start until the third inning, when a Rowdy Tellez sacrifice fly scored Christian Yelich and an infield single by Garrett Mitchell scored Willy Adames.

Adames also managed to hit his first home run off the season, punishing a middle-middle fastball from hard-throwing Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks in the seventh inning and sending the ball 400 feet to right center field. 

 

Payamps Gets Out Of Trouble
After walking Alec Burleson, Brandon Woodruff was replaced by Joel Payamps who found himself in quite the pickle after giving up a single to Nolan Arenado and walking Willson Contreras to load the bases. It was a tense moment that almost exactly mirrored the same bases-loaded situation the Brewers had in the fourth inning.

Following a mound visit, Payamps intelligently jammed Tyler O’Neill with a pitch on the inside, forcing a weak grounder up the middle that was promptly fielded by Brice Turang to end the inning and escape the jam.

 

What’s Next?
The homestand against the St. Louis Cardinals will continue with a lefty pitching matchup between Jordan Montgomery and Eric Lauer. The Brewers look to continue their momentous six-game win streak and break away with the division lead.

 

Postgame Interviews

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	TOT
B Wilson	49	0	0	0	12	61
Strzelecki	0	16	12	0	0	28
Milner	0	14	14	0	7	35
Guerra	0	19	0	0	0	19
Bush	0	0	15	0	18	33
Williams	0	0	9	0	0	9
Payamps	0	0	0	0	22	22
Varland	0	0	0	0	12	12

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