Brewers 5, Pirates 4: Lower The Jolly Roger

[Jason Wang]

The Brewers finally ended their losing streak Friday night, scraping by in a close, crucial game against the (former) leaders of the NL Central division.

Image courtesy of © Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The Brewers finally ended their losing streak Friday night, scraping by in a close, crucial game against the (former) leaders of the NL Central division.

Box Score

Starting Pitcher: Julio Teheran - 6.0 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 85 pitches, 56 strikes (65.9%)
Home Runs: Joey Wiemer (9)
Top 3 WPA: Blake Perkins (.163), Devin Williams (.162), Julio Teheran (.153) 
Bottom 3 WPA: Elvis Peguero (-.106), Christian Yelich (-.050), Willy Adames (-.015) 

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Teheran Keeps Showing Up & Showing Out
Julio Teheran keeps exceeding expectations. He put up his fourth quality start in a row, adding a new page in the scrapbook of his surprising comeback season. He made just two mistakes, but both resulted in earned runs.

The first was a home run to Carlos Santana, who pounded a hanging sinker 386 feet into right field. Luckily, it was a solo home run and Teheran retired the next three batters with no issue.

The second mistake was a walk to Ji Hwan Bae, who would promptly steal second base, advance to third on an Austin Hedges groundout, and then score on a Tucupita Marcano sacrifice fly. Nonetheless, Teheran's performance was just what the doctor ordered for the ailing patient that was the home club. He (Teheran, not the proverbial doctor) was an integral part of this victory, staying one step ahead of the Pirates lineup. 
 
The last full season Julio Teheran spent in the major leagues was 2019. He was a reliable starter on the Atlanta Braves, with a 3.81 ERA over 175 innings pitched. After barely pitching in 2020 and 2021, he spent the entirety of 2022 in the Mexican League before returning as a Brewer (by way of the Padres' farm club) this year.

Originally brought in to help fill in the gaps left by injuries in the team’s starting rotation, he currently holds an outstanding 1.78 ERA over 30 1/3 innings pitched.

Brewers Take A Few Leisurely Strolls
Pirates starter Rich Hill had a rough first inning, kicking off the game by walking four batters. While Owen Miller’s leadoff walk was negated by William Contreras grounding into a double play, those worked by Christian Yelich and Willy Adames would be far more impactful. Catcher’s interference gave Luis Urias a free pass to first and loaded the bases. Hill then walked Brian Anderson to give Milwaukee their first run. A single by Blake Perkins scored Adames and Urias, giving the Brewers an early 3-0 lead before a Joey Wiemer strikeout put an end to the onslaught.

Hill would give up another two walks in the fourth inning to Perkins and Andruw Monasterio, before a Contreras double brought Perkins home, giving Milwaukee a 4-1 lead.

The final Brewers run came by way of a 390-foot solo home run to right field by Wiemer, extending the lead to 5-2.

Bullpen (Almost) Blows It
After Teheran's sturdy six innings of work, Elvis Peguero did his best to give Brewers fans a scare, as he gave up two runs in his one inning of relief. After walking Andrew McCutchen and giving up a single to Carlos Santana, he hit Jack Suwinski to load the bases before recording a single out.

Josh Palacios hit a weak enough grounder to allow the Brewers to force McCutchen out at home, but the bases were loaded once again. Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a single that scored Santana and Suwinski before some nifty defense allowed Blake Perkins to throw Palacios out at third base, but the Brewers were now nursing a one-run lead. 

To make matters worse, Hayes swiped third base and put himself 90 feet away from tying the game, but a Bae strikeout to end the inning was a sigh of relief for fans everywhere.

To close out the game, Joel Payamps and Devin Williams combined for one hit, three walks, and zero earned runs, allowing Milwaukee to preserve their narrow lead and get a much-needed win over their divisional rival.

What’s Next? 
Wade Miley will face Pirates ace Mitch Keller in the second game of this red-hot NL Central matchup. With this win, the Brewers now stand alone atop the division, but the Cincinnati Reds are now tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates for second place, just 0.5 games behind.

Let’s hope those wins keep rolling in!

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	TOT
Payamps	0	25	0	0	13	38
Williams	0	14	0	0	23	37
Peguero	0	6	0	0	17	23
B Wilson	0	0	23	0	0	23
Milner	0	11	12	0	0	23
Miller	0	0	14	0	0	14
Strzelecki	0	0	0	0	0	0
Megill	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sousa	0	0	0	0	0	0

Tweet Highlight

View full article