Brewers 9, Mets 0: Brewers go Back-to-Back-to-Back

The Brewers seemed unstoppable in their Tuesday beatdown of the New York Mets, hitting a total of five home runs. The pitching staff did their job as well, shutting the Mets out for the second game in a row.

Image courtesy of © Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Brewers Video

Box Score

SP: Wade Miley - 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K (79 pitches, 51 strikes 64.6%)
Home Runs: Rowdy Tellez (1), Brian Anderson 2 (3), Garrett Mitchell 2 (2)
Top 3 WPA: Wade Miley (.327), Brian Anderson (.208), Willy Adames (.062)
Bottom 3 WPA: Jesse Winker (-.055), Christian Yelich (-.033), Brice Turang (-.030)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Miley Makes Quick Work of the Mets
Ruthlessly efficient in his six-inning start, Wade Miley needed just three strikeouts to keep the Mets scoreless. While he did give up five hits, they were spread out between innings to prevent any damage, and he gave up no walks, crucially limiting baserunners. His changeup was looking particularly difficult to hit and had over 30 inches of vertical break, causing some comical swings and misses.

His velocity never surpassed 90 mph but his craftsmanship with off-speed pitches and his carefully controlled cutter were enough to induce soft contact and earn him his 100th career win.

Home Run Derby
If you’ve been following the Brewers this season, you’ll know that their bats have been roaring to life right around the sixth inning, and this game was no different. Rowdy Tellez finally got his first extra-base hit of the season, in the form of a solo home run to right-center field.

Immediately after, Brian Anderson and Garrett Mitchell also hit home runs, putting an end to Max Scherzer’s night. To make sure Scherzer didn’t feel particularly singled out, Anderson and Mitchell also hit back-to-back home runs off of reliever Brooks Raley in the seventh inning, batting in four runs total.

Who Needs Strikeouts?
Wade Miley’s three strikeouts would be the only ones recorded by the Brewers pitching staff as relievers Peter Strzelecki, Hoby Milner, and Javy Guerra each recorded zero in their respective innings. Each reliever had a slightly different style. Strzelecki depended on his wicked slider with more than 40 inches of drop, Guerra on his 98-mile-an-hour four-seam fastball, and Milner his 79 mph changeup, each different means to the same end - soft grounders and shallow fly-outs.

The diversity of the bullpen may prove immensely tricky for opposing batters, who will have to adapt to wildly different pitch arsenals, shapes, and velocities after already facing the robust starting rotation.

What’s Next?
The Brewers look to complete the series sweep against the Mets before hosting the division rival St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, April 7th. Ace Corbin Burnes will try to rebound from a rough Opening Day that saw him concede four earned runs in five innings of work against the Chicago Cubs.

The Brewers lineup will try to continue their hitting momentum against left-handed starter David Peterson and extend the existing win streak to six games.

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet