Article: Brewers 0, Rays 1: Brewers Blink First

[Jason Wang]

In what seemed to be the pitching duel of the season, the Milwaukee Brewers ultimately buckled in the first game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score

Starting Pitcher: Adrian Houser - 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 84 pitches, 53 strikes (63.1%)
Home Runs: None 
Top 3 WPA: Adrian Houser (.335), Darin Ruf (.136), Jesse Winker (.115) 
Bottom 3 WPA: Brian Anderson (-.311), Peter Strzelecki (-.255), Tyrone Taylor (-.236)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Houser Has Dominant Performance
Adrian Houser looked incredible, tossing six scoreless innings and giving the Brewers one of the best starts of the season. While he didn’t rack up an insane amount of strikeouts, he conceded just five baserunners in total and didn’t give up a single earned run.

The pitching duel was a real treat, as Shane McClanahan had a similar performance, giving up just six hits and one walk in his seven-inning start and also giving up zero earned runs. 

Ruf Has First Big Game As Brewer
The lineup struggled as a whole to put up any offense, stringing together just eight hits and one walk, but there was one player in particular who had a standout performance. Darin Ruf went 2-for-2 with a walk, earning his first Brewers hit on the way. In his very limited four total games with the team, he’s slashing .250/.333/.250 for an OPS of .583.

There wasn’t much else to say. Owen Miller extended his hit streak to 11 games while Christian Yelich, Brian Anderson, and Tyrone Taylor all went 0-for-4, although Anderson’s flyout in the seventh inning would have been a home run in 14 of 30 ballparks and had an xBA of .850.

 

Similarly, Taylor’s flyout in the fifth inning had a total distance of 403 feet and an xBA of .880. 

Strzelecki Is First To Flinch
After Houser’s scoreless six-inning start, Joel Payamps would follow up with two strikeouts and zero hits in his inning of relief to match McClanahan’s final scoreless inning. To start the eighth inning, the Rays brought out reliever Jason Adam who would strike out two and keep the game tied at 0-0. 

Peter Strzelecki would not be so lucky. After being hit by a pitch, Luke Raley would steal second base and take third on a throwing error by William Contreras. A sacrifice fly by Francisco Mejia would score Raley and serve as the Rays’ only run, which was all they needed to win the game since the Brewers offense failed to score any runs of their own in the ninth inning.

What’s Next? 
In the second game of the series, Eric Lauer will face Zach Eflin as the Brewers try to maintain their delicate hold over the NL Central. After their vicious performance against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Pittsburgh Pirates are now tied for the division lead and are four games ahead of the Chicago Cubs. 

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	TOT
Payamps	0	34	0	0	14	48
Strzelecki	0	30	0	0	18	48
Varland	33	0	0	0	0	33
B Wilson	33	0	0	0	0	33
Williams	0	27	0	0	0	27
Peguero	0	23	0	0	0	23
Milner	0	22	0	0	0	22
Megill	0	0	12	0	0	12
Cousins	0	0	12	0	0	12

Tweet Highlight

View full article