Brewers 5, Pirates 0: Peace Out, Pittsburgh

Against the Pirates' ace, the Brewers were undaunted. They climbed out to an early lead, extended it, and cruised to a Sunday win on a Saturday.

Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Brewers Video

Box Score

Starting Pitcher: Wade Miley - 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 77 pitches, 46 strikes (59.7%)
Home Runs: Joey Wiemer (10), Blake Perkins (2)
Top 3 WPA: Wade Miley (.270), Joey Wiemer (.157), Rowdy Tellez (.080)
Bottom 3 WPA: Jesse Winker (-.058), Raimel Tapia (-.038), Luis Urias (-.038)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Miley Masterpiece
Wade Miley was untouchable over five innings, shutting out the Pirates in his start despite giving up a few baserunners here and there. Having just returned from the 15-day IL following a lat strain, this was an encouraging return to early-season form.

After posting a 5.43 ERA in his last five starts (over 23 2/3 innings), the rest seemed to have done wonders for Miley’s pitching abilities. As usual, he wasn’t overpowering batters, just outwitting them. While he recorded just four swinging strikes, he earned 17 called strikes. He also used his cutter brilliantly, painting the edge of the strike zone and producing six instances of soft contact to get batters out.

To make space for Miley’s return, Tyson Miller was optioned back to Triple-A. Miley currently has a 3.28 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over his 47 innings pitched.

Bullpen Keeps The Buccos In The Dark
Peter Strzelecki stepped in for 1.2 innings of relief, giving up just one hit and zero earned runs along the way. He followed Miley’s trend of soft contact, using his sinker and changeup to get three flyouts and a groundout.

Hoby Milner recorded just one out in the seventh inning, giving up a hit and a walk along the way. Elvis Peguero and Trevor Megill would keep the Pirates scoreless for the remainder of the game, including Megill striking out three batters to finish the game in dominant fashion. Did I mention that he threw three pitches that clocked in at triple-digit velocity?

It’s Big Boy Season For Tellez and Wiemer
Joey Wiemer would score the first runs of the game, hitting a 366-foot, two-run home run to right field.

More Milwaukee offense would come in the fifth inning when a walk by Christian Yelich and a single by Willy Adames would result in two more runs on a Rowdy Tellez double, bringing the score to 4-0.

Finally, to tack on a final insurance run, Blake Perkins hit his second home run of the season while pinch hitting for outfield newcomer Raimel Tapia. It was an absolute moonshot, traveling 423 feet and being counted as a home run in all 30 ballparks.

It seems the Brewers offense is starting to thaw out and warm up in this series, but there are still some clear issues. Many players, including Wiemer and Tellez, are able to hit for power but have low batting averages that drag down their offensive production.

What’s Next?
In the final game of the series, Freddy Peralta will take the ball against Luis Ortiz. Peralta, whose ERA and WHIP currently stand at 4.73 and 1.36, is hoping to bring his statistics closer to his career averages of 3.95 and 1.16.

In the meantime, the Cincinnati Reds have officially relegated the Pittsburgh Pirates to third place as they now sit just 0.5 games behind the Brewers for control of the NL Central.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet