Jason Wang

Seems to be another guy with great stuff but some major control issues. Hopefully we'll put some balls in the seats.

Fastball spin is an interesting stat. Even though Peguero's sinker is a knuckleball compared to the rest of the league, he still creates -5 run value with it and has 5.9 more inches of vertical drop than league average. I imagine it comes out more as a splitter but unlike the other Statcast metrics, I always thought of fastball spin as one that is most subjective.

The Brewers won the third game of their series in Cincinnati on National Cheese Day, and look to complete the sweep of one of their division rivals Monday. Better luck to the Reds on National Gross Cousins of Chili Day. Image courtesy of © Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Adrian Houser - 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 92 pitches, 61 strikes (66.3%) Home Runs: Andruw Monasterio (1), Victor Caratini (3) Top 3 WPA: Adrian Houser (.272), Andruw Monasterio (.234), Victor Caratini (.073) Bottom 3 WPA: Mike Brosseau (-.036), Brice Turang (-.029), Blake Perkins (-.028) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Houser Stretches Out Adrian Houser had a slightly longer start than has been his custom thus far, but was cruising for all seven innings. He gave up just one hit in his first three frames, while getting six batters to ground out. There was some trouble in the fourth inning, where a Matt McLain double and a Jonathan India single spelled trouble, but a flyout by Jake Fraley followed by yet another groundout that turned into a double play helped Houser get out of the jam. His one earned run came by way of a Fraley home run in the seventh, but Houser finished strong by retiring the final three batters in a row. It was a great bounceback performance following a brutal outing in Toronto that saw Houser give up six earned runs in just 4 1/3 innings of work. His ERA now stands at 3.45 over 31 1/3 innings pitched this season. Monasterio Starts Off With A Bang After his heroics in the first game of the series, Andruw Monasterio came up big once again, this time in the first inning. After Owen Miller and Jon Singleton both walked, Monasterio hit a monstrous 400-foot home run to center field. Although it would only have been a home run in seven ballparks, one of them happened to be Great American Ball Park, putting the Brewers up 3-0. This also happened to be Monasterio’s first career home run in the major leagues. Monasterio was later pulled from the game, following a collision at second base, but he needed just one at-bat to improve Milwaukee’s chance of winning by 23.4% Caratini Goes Long The Milwaukee lineup fell silent until the fifth inning, when Victor Caratini sent a ball to the moon, hitting a 429-foot home run to right field, a no-doubter that would’ve been in the seats in every ballpark. Milwaukee would tack on their fifth and final run of the game following an RBI single by Owen Miller, scoring Joey Wiemer who had hit a single of his own directly after Caratini’s home run. Speaking of Miller, while he continues to be one of the team’s best hitters (.319/.354/.478, 129 OPS+), he also made a great barehanded defensive play in the third inning. The fact that the Guardians often stashed him at first base last year made it easy to forget, coming into this year, that he has great defensive versatility. It's no longer easy to forget that. Bullpen Keeps Up The Good Work Elvis Peguero and Peter Strzelecki were called upon to wrap up the final two innings of the game, and did so without a blemish. Similar to Houser, they depended primarily on soft contact. Between them, they struck out just one batter but allowed zero baserunners. Strzelecki is overcoming a rough patch wherein he gave up 10 earned runs in his last 14 innings pitched, bringing his current ERA to 3.71. Things seem to be looking up, however, as over his past three relief appearances he has given up zero hits, zero walks, and zero earned runs. What’s Next? The Brewers will try to complete the sweep of this wraparound four-game weekend set Monday, as Julio Teheran takes the mound with an 0.82 ERA against recent call-up Andrew Abbott, a left-handed pitcher who posted a 3.05 ERA in Triple A this season over 38 1/3 innings pitched. Originally, the Crew was scheduled to face Hunter Greene; his start has been pushed back to allow him to recover from reported hip stiffness. The Brewers still maintain a 0.5-game lead in the NL Central over the Pirates, but have widened their lead to six games over the fourth-place Reds. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Williams 15 0 14 26 0 55 Peguero 0 23 16 0 14 53 Megill 0 13 0 35 0 48 B Wilson 0 0 17 24 0 41 Payamps 21 0 17 0 0 38 Strzelecki 11 0 14 0 11 36 Cousins 0 0 0 11 0 11 Milner 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tweet Highlight View full article

In an unusually early game leading into an on-site concert by the Zac Brown Band, the Brewers were as satisfying as a cold beer on a Friday night. Image courtesy of © Sam Greene-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Corbin Burnes - 6.0 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 100 pitches, 59 strikes (59.0%) Home Runs: Joey Wiemer (6) Top 3 WPA: Andruw Monasterio (.524), Devin Williams (.150), Elvis Peguero (.150) Bottom 3 WPA: William Contreras (-.324), Brian Anderson (-.319), Victor Caratini (-.077) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Free Corbin Burnes struggled a bit with command, issuing free passes to four batters in the game. After the Reds scored their first run in the second inning on a close play at the plate, they scored two more in the third, thanks to a home run by Jonathan India that scored himself and Luke Maile. Both Maile and Luke Raley, who scored in the second, reached on leadoff walks. The cutter that led to the home run was thrown at 95.5 mph and was placed well, but had just one inch of horizontal break, giving India a perfect shot to blast into the seats. Despite this quick hiccup, Burnes finished the rest of his start without further damage, giving up just one baserunner (another walk) in his last three frames. With seven strikeouts and just two hits, it was actually one of Corbin’s better starts this season. Adios, and Vaya Con Díos After a Christian Yelich walk in the second, Joey Wiemer hit an absolute rocket to left field. It had an astounding exit velocity of 109.1 mph and a distance of 432 feet--a true no-doubter. Not only would it have been a home run in every ballpark, it had a rarely-seen expected batting average of 1.000, meaning every other batted ball with the same characteristics has ended up as a hit. After looking at it, are we really surprised? The crack of the bat upon contact is one of the best I’ve heard so far this season. Wiemer clearly has power, but is slugging just .366, primarily driven by his batting average of .201. If he’s able to improve his strikeout rate and find the barrel a little more often, we’ll hear that sound a lot more often in the future. McLain Lends A Helping Hand Cincinnati Shortstop Matt McLain made a crucial throwing error in the fourth inning to allow the Brewers to score their third run. After a Christian Yelich single, Andruw Monasterio hit a ball that was supposed to lead to a routine double play. After McLain made a wide toss that ended up past the first baseline, Yelich was able to advance to third base, while Monasterio moved to second base. Victor Caratini would later hit a ground out to first base that allowed Yelich to score the tying run. Monasterio Brings In The Win After both bullpens were lights out, the game went into the 11th inning after being tied 3-3. With a runner placed on second base, Monasterio led off the inning with a single that drove Brian Anderson to third before Joey Wiemer walked to load the bases. After two consecutive groundouts that scored Anderson and Monasterio, the Brewers brought the score to 5-3. Why was this important? If Monasterio hadn’t gotten on base, he would’ve served as the first out. Assuming everything else went the same way (i.e., Wiemer walks, Caratini and Turang ground out), Anderson would still score but the final out being a forceout would’ve prevented further runs from scoring, reducing the Brewers lead to just 4-3. Since the Reds scored a run of their own in the 11th inning, the game would have remained tied and they would’ve played a 12th inning, and we all know how "great" the Brewers have been in late innings. Overall, it’s safe to say Monasterio played a major part in winning the game for Milwaukee. Roll the Dice and Have Some Faith The Brewers called on the services of five relievers to finish this game: Joel Payamps, Peter Strzelecki, Devin Williams, Elvis Peguero, and Bryse Wilson. They would combine for just one hit, zero walks, and six strikeouts. Things got a little spicy in the eleventh after Wilson got two outs before allowing a double by Curt Casali to score the Reds’ extra runner, but he got Spencer Steer to ground out to end the game and earn his third save of the season. Craig Counsell had to take a bit of a chance by going to Williams in the ninth, knowing he would need someone further down the bullpen ladder to get the top and middle of the Cincinnati order out in extras in order to secure the win, but his faith was rewarded. Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet MON TUE WED THU FRI TOT Peguero 0 0 0 23 16 39 Payamps 0 0 21 0 17 38 B Wilson 0 15 0 0 17 32 Williams 0 0 15 0 14 29 Strzelecki 0 0 11 0 14 25 Cousins 0 16 0 0 0 16 Megill 0 0 0 13 0 13 Milner 0 13 0 0 0 13 Tweet Highlight View full article

There's only one man who can solve all of our problems.

After scoring three runs in the first inning, the Blue Jays failed to plate a runner for the rest of the game. Unfortunately, that shutdown was too little, too late, as the Milwaukee Brewers scored just one measly run. It's another series loss for the Brewers. Image courtesy of © Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Freddy Peralta - 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 85 pitches, 57 strikes (67.1%) Home Runs: None Top 3 WPA: William Contreras (.025), Joey Wiemer (.016), Trevor Megill (.011) Bottom 3 WPA: Brian Anderson (-.182), Freddy Peralta (-.137), Brice Turang (-.120) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Freddy Falters Early All three of Peralta’s earned runs scored in the first inning, as the Blue Jays got to work quickly. He gave up a 414-foot solo home run to Bo Bichette, followed by a single to Daulton Varsho and a 366-foot home run by Matt Chapman to give Toronto a 3-0 lead. Both home runs were off of his four-seam fastball, which has actually been his best pitch this season and throughout his career. Luckily, Peralta was able to complete his six-inning start without any further hiccups. He was officially credited with the loss, bringing his record to 5-5 for the season but trimming his ERA to 4.62 over 60-plus innings pitched. Bullpen Locks It Down Trevor Megill and Elvis Peguero took on relief duties, combining for three hits, two strikeouts, and zero earned runs. Megill had a relatively straightforward inning, giving up just a single and a stolen base to George Springer before striking out Bichette to earn the final out of the seventh inning. Things got a little stickier for Peguero, who started the eighth inning strong, getting a double play to retire Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Varsho. He followed that up by walking Chapman, giving up a single and a stolen base to Whit Merrifield, and then walking Cavan Biggio to load the bases. He escaped the jam by striking out Kevin Kiermaier to end the inning unscathed. He whipped out his slick slider when he needed it most. Romano Shuts Down Late Rally By The Crew Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano hasn’t been as dominant this year as he was last year, posting a 3.27 ERA, but he’s shown flashes of his intimidating stuff. The Brewers entered the ninth inning with a 3-0 deficit and a 3.1% chance to win the game with him on the mound. Things started off great. Rowdy Tellez hit a huge triple, his first of the year, to put Romano on notice immediately. Milwaukee followed this with a William Contreras walk before a Brian Anderson grounder initiated a double play that scored Tellez but drastically reduced the Brewers’ chance to come back. With two outs and still down by two runs, Andruw Monasterio struck out, dashing any hopes of a Milwaukee comeback. What’s Next? The Brewers will travel to Cincinnati to start a series against the division-rival Reds, with Corbin Burnes taking the ball against lefty pitcher Brandon Williamson. The Crew are currently the worst-hitting team in Major League Baseball, posting a .626 team OPS over 473 ABs, .027 lower than the next-worst Colorado Rockies. They still maintain a narrow 0.5 game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates to remain on top of the NL Central division, but who knows how much longer that will last. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SUN MON TUE WED THU TOT Williams 26 0 0 15 0 41 Payamps 15 0 0 21 0 36 Strzelecki 16 0 0 11 0 27 Peguero 0 0 0 0 23 23 Cousins 0 0 16 0 0 16 B Wilson 0 0 15 0 0 15 Megill 0 0 0 0 13 13 Milner 0 0 13 0 0 13 Tweet Highlight View full article

Pretty interesting thought here - Teheran's last truly full season as a starter was all the way in 2019 with the Braves and his ERA in the first three innings was 3.35 vs. 4.36 in innings 4-6. Looks like he might fit that middle ground of not having enough pure stuff to be an elite closer/short-reliever but not having enough stamina to go a full six innings every five days. Long reliever could be the move!

Brewers need our own Tungsten Arm O'Doyle honestly.

Hopefully it's sustainable!

After a lightning strike of a first inning, the Brewers failed to string together any semblance of offense, while the Blue Jays circled the bases with frustrating ease. It was a disappointing showing against one of the toughest opponents of the season thus far. Image courtesy of © John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Adrian Houser - 4.1 IP, 11 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 95 pitches, 57 strikes (60.0%) Home Runs: William Contreras (6) Top 3 WPA: William Contreras (.201), Andruw Monasterio (.028), Bryse Wilson (.016) Bottom 3 WPA: Adrian Houser (-.503), Darin Ruf (-.066), Joey Wiemer (-.041) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Houser Has A Rough Night Heading into the game, Adrian Houser had impressive numbers. In a small sample size of 20 innings, he had given up just five runs, good for a 2.25 ERA. Tuesday was really his first bad outing of the season, giving up four runs in the first inning alone. Aside from giving up 11 total hits, Houser also made some small errors in his start--including a wild pitch that allowed George Springer to advance to scoring position, as well as this mistake while attempting to cover first base on a ground ball. Based on Statcast data, it seemed like he just wasn’t able to get his sinker to work properly, a horrible outcome given his usage of it on 37.7% of his pitches. Of the 38 sinkers he threw, here’s the breakdown of their results. In play, no out 8 In play, out 3 Foul 8 Ball 12 Called Strike 6 Swinging Strike 1 More hits than total strikes is probably not what you want to see from a starter. The strikes he did throw were clearly unable to deceive Toronto batters and were either fouled off or put in play. The Toronto Blue Jays have been a formidable offensive force this season, ranking third for team batting average at .266. On the bright side, Houser’s troubles came against a very dangerous opponent, and his sample is still too small for us to be able to confidently pass a verdict on his abilities for this season. As of now, his ERA stands at 4.07, and his WHIP stands at 1.60. One Inning Of Success, Followed By Eight Innings Of Struggle After William Contreras hit a two-run home run in the first inning, it seemed like we were off to a great start. With an exit velocity of 105.0 mph and an xBA of .900, it seemed like the jolt needed to start the series strong. And then, just like all too many games that have occurred this season, the lineup simply became unable to make quality contact, recording just two hits in the remaining eight innings of the game. They were able to draw six walks, only Darin Ruf struck out more than once, but it was obvious that Blue Jays pitching was beating the Milwaukee batters at almost every turn. Contrary to Toronto’s offensive prowess, the Brewers have the 25th-best team batting average in the major leagues, at .231. Cumulative production at the plate is similarly bad, posting a .688 team OPS that is also 25th-best. Monasterio Is Here To Play One of the standout players of the game was rookie Andruw Monasterio. In his first full game in the major leagues, he went 2-3 with a walk. Did I mention it was his birthday? Judging a player off of a sample size containing a whopping four ABs is probably meaningless, but given that Willy Adames will be out for a while with a concussion, there seems to be hope that his replacement may be able to fill the big shoes in front of him. What’s Next? Julio Teheran will face off against Alek Manoah in the second game of the series. Manoah has been uncharacteristically shaky this season, logging a 1-5 record with a 5.53 ERA. His struggles to deal with the new pitch timer and other changes may allow the Brewers to escape with a much-needed win and reignite their offense. The NL Central is starting to heat up, as the Brewers currently hold a one-game lead in the over the Pittsburgh Pirates and just a 4.5-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals, who are in last place. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet FRI SAT SUN MON TUE TOT Peguero 37 0 0 0 0 37 Strzelecki 0 13 16 0 0 29 Williams 0 0 26 0 0 26 Cousins 0 0 0 0 16 16 B Wilson 0 0 0 0 15 15 Payamps 0 0 15 0 0 15 Megill 0 14 0 0 0 14 Milner 0 0 0 0 13 13 Tweet Highlight View full article

Viewer discretion is advised, and not for the fun reasons. Image courtesy of © MARK HOFFMAN/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL / USA TODAY NETWORK Box Score Starting Pitcher: Corbin Burnes - 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 91 pitches, 54 strikes (59.3%) Home Runs: Rowdy Tellez Top 3 WPA: Rowdy Tellez (.151), Mike Brosseau (.000), Darin Ruf (.000) Bottom 3 WPA: Corbin Burnes (-.265), Brian Anderson (-.075), Brice Turang (-.059) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Burnes Gives Up Four Homers In one of his worst starts of the season, Corbin Burnes left a few too many pitches over the plate, giving up home runs to Corey Julks, Martin Maldonado, Mauricio Dubon, and Yordan Alvarez. By the conclusion of the fifth and final inning of his start, the Astros had a 5-1 lead and an 88.3% chance of winning. If you take a look at the pitch data, it’s clear that pitches were simply hanging. The first home run, by Julks in the second inning, was on a hanging sinker with just nine inches of horizontal break. Similarly, the home runs Burnes served up to Maldonado and Alvarez were on cutters with zero inches of horizontal break. After Monday’s start, Burnes went from a 3.48 ERA to a 3.97 ERA. Peguero Gives Up Four Earned Runs The bullpen's difficulty in withstanding some recent injuries has been a major contributor to the team's recent slump, and Elvis Peguero illustrated that. He came into the game with a stellar 1.42 ERA over 12 2/3 innings pitched. He left the game with 13 innings pitched and a 4.15 ERA. What happened? CJulks grounded out. Jake Meyers was hit by a pitch. Maldonado singled, advancing Meyers to second. Dubon walked, loading the bases. Alex Bregman hit a single, scoring Meyers and keeping the bases loaded. Peguero was replaced by Hoby Milner. Yordan Alvarez hit a grand slam. Peguero gave up four earned runs, and recorded just one out. The Alvarez grand slam was effectively the nail in the coffin, reducing the Brewers’ win probability to just 0.4%. At Least It Was A Group Effort? Just as they win as a team, they lose as a team. Of the 17 players in today’s game, 12 had a negative Win Probability Added for this game. Four of them had a WPA of .000, because the game was effectively over after the sixth inning, and then there was Rowdy Tellez, who hit a home run in the second inning. The other run was from a Tyrone Taylor double in the seventh inning that scored Brice Turang, bringing the score to 10-2. The Astros would go on to score two more runs in the eighth inning. What’s Next? Let’s just put this all behind us and hope that with a new day comes a new beginning. Colin Rea will face major-league newbie J.P. France in the second game of the series at home. In further depressing news, the Pirates won their game, so they and the Crew are now tied for the lead in the NL Central. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Cousins 0 0 36 0 21 57 Strzelecki 0 18 0 24 0 42 B Wilson 0 0 39 0 0 39 Megill 0 0 14 0 23 37 Payamps 0 14 0 17 0 31 Williams 0 0 0 20 0 20 Peguero 0 0 0 0 18 18 Milner 0 0 0 0 9 9 Varland 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tweet Highlight View full article

Despite some quality hits by Milwaukee's lineup, Eric Lauer couldn't keep it close. The Rays took game two of the series, leaving the Crew to try to salvage one game in the set on Sunday. Image courtesy of © Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Eric Lauer - 3.0 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 71 pitches, 40 strikes (56.3%) Home Runs: Owen Miller (2), Brian Anderson (7) Top 3 WPA: Brian Anderson (.163), Bryse Wilson (.064), Owen Miller (.027) Bottom 3 WPA: Eric Lauer (-.460), Rowdy Tellez (-.062), Jesse Winker (-.056) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Lauer Gets Lit Up Eric Lauer didn’t have a particularly inspiring start Saturday, going just three innings and giving up six earned runs. Most notably, he gave up three home runs, two of which were off of his curveball. The most consequential home run was hit in the bottom of the second by Yandy Diaz and scored three runs, bringing the Rays lead to 4-0. With almost the same pitch placement, Lauer gave up another solo shot to Christian Bethancourt in the fourth inning. Both home runs were conceded on hanging curveballs that got stuck on the outside of the zone, perfect conditions for barreled balls and long shots. Lauer is throwing his curve way too often again this year, in that he's throwing it at all. As Matthew Trueblood wrote back before the start of the season, Lauer's curve just isn't a good pitch. Yet, he's throwing it about 15 percent of the time against righties, apparently afraid to deploy the reshaped slider he developed late in 2022. Last year, opponents slugged .600 on his hook. This season, they're slugging 1.310, which would be hilarious if it didn't hurt so much. Following a double by Taylor Walls and a single by Manuel Margot to score the Rays’ sixth run, it was decided that Lauer’s day would end early, recording just nine outs in total for the team in his start. His struggles continue, as his ERA climbs to 5.48 and his WHIP rises to 1.52. The Bullpen Was So Good…Until It Wasn’t To make up for the abbreviated start, Bryse Wilson tossed three scoreless innings, giving up just two baserunners in total. His Herculean effort gave me and Brewers fans everywhere hope for a potential comeback, especially since the bats were starting to wake up during his innings of relief, scoring some runs and bringing the score to 6-3. Nonetheless, all good things must come to an end. Jake Cousins would take the mound in the seventh inning and immediately get into trouble. After conceding two singles and a walk, the bases were loaded with just one out recorded. Cousins would walk the next batter, Isaac Paredes, and then walk Taylor Walls to give the Rays another two runs, pushing the score to 8-3. After two hits, three walks, and a clear decline in pitch quality, Counsell made the decision to replace Cousins with Trevor Megill who would finally strikeout Manuel Margot to escape trouble and end the inning. How rough was Cousins’s outing, exactly? In his one inning of relief, he threw just three fewer pitches than Wilson’s three innings of relief. Are RBI Popups The New Wave? All but one of Milwaukee’s runs were scored by home runs, a third inning solo shot from Owen MIller and a 2-RBI shot from Brian Anderson in the seventh inning. Miller’s home run was hit to left field at an exit velocity of 102.9 mph and a total distance 377 feet, good enough to be a home run in every ballpark except PNC Park and Oriole Park. He extended his hit-streak to 12 games. Anderson’s home run was a true no-doubter to left field, going 408 feet with an exit velocity of 102 mph. According to Statcast, this would be a home run in all 30 ballparks. But by far the most impressive RBI of today’s game was Christian Yelich’s RBI popup. After a shallow fly ball that caused the entirety of the Rays infield to converge, confusion amongst Tampa’s players caused it to drop on the grass harmlessly. This allowed Yelich to reach first base and Brice Turang to score the Brewer’s fourth run. Jesse Winker Is My Favorite Brewer Winker has always been a feisty individual, and while he is still looking to return to the prowess at plate that he had while on the Cincinnati Reds, he’s always been one to speak his mind. Today was no different. After a questionable pitch clock violation that had him start the at-bat with an 0-1 count, Winker argued that the only reason that he wasn’t in the batter’s box is because the Rays pitching coach was taking a walk to the mound. After striking out, he reignited the discussion in a calm, cordial manner and was subsequently ejected. It seemed like an unfair ejection to me, but what are your thoughts? What’s Next? Freddy Peralta will make the final start of the Rays series, as the Brewers look to avoid a sweep. Their offense continues to lag behind in the month of May, coming in 25th in terms of team OPS at .677. On the bright side, the team’s pitching this month is currently ranked 10th in the major leagues with a team ERA of 4.06. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet TUE WED THU FRI SAT TOT Payamps 34 0 0 14 0 48 Strzelecki 30 0 0 18 0 48 Cousins 0 12 0 0 36 48 B Wilson 0 0 0 0 39 39 Williams 27 0 0 0 0 27 Megill 0 12 0 0 14 26 Peguero 23 0 0 0 0 23 Milner 22 0 0 0 0 22 Varland 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tweet Highlight View full article

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

In the final game of their pivotal series in St. Louis, the Brewers got shut out for the fifth time in 2023. They struggled, once again, both to hit with runners in scoring position and to handle left-handed pitching in general. Image courtesy of © Paul Halfacre-USA TODAY Sports Box Score Starting Pitcher: Corbin Burnes - 6.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 89 pitches, 58 strikes (65.2%) Home Runs: None Top 3 WPA: Owen Miller (.132), Jesse Winker (.076), Tyrone Taylor (.052) Bottom 3 WPA: William Contreras (-.177), Rowdy Tellez (-.142), Brice Turang (-.116) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Burnes Is Getting There Corbin Burnes made a strong start Wednesday, giving up just one earned run in the first five innings of work. After an RBI single by Nolan Arenado in the first inning (one that didn't leave the infield and could almost have been an inning-ending double play), Burnes cruised through the second and third frames. The fourth inning saw him get out of a bases-loaded jam by recording three consecutive outs, hyping him up like a kid on Christmas. A bit of deadly hesitation by Rowdy Tellez in the sixth led to a two-run home run by Paul DeJong and brought the score to 3-0 in favor of the Cardinals, but Burnes earned himself a quality start by finishing that inning. In his three outings in May, he’s maintained a 2.50 ERA, a 1.22 WHIP, and a K/9 rate of 9.5, numbers that paint an optimistic picture for the remainder of the season. Miller & Taylor Go Off, Other Guys Not So Much Owen Miller and Tyrone Taylor combined for five of the team’s seven total hits. Miller went 3-for-4 with a walk, bringing his batting average to .350 over 76 at-bats. Taylor managed 2-for-3 with a walk, to lift his anemic batting average to .196, almost over the Mendoza line. That’s pretty much all there is to say about the hitting for this game. The Brewers absolutely could not get things going until the ninth inning, when Jesse Winker and Miller both got on base, allowing William Contreras to step to the plate as the tying run. His strikeout and Willy Adames's lineout wasted the opportunity, though, and the game was lost. Trevor Megill Makes Brewers Debut After being designated for assignment by the Minnesota Twins at the end of April, Megill was picked up to bolster Milwaukee’s injury-ridden bullpen. Wednesday, he pitched one inning and was lights-out, giving up no base runners and notching two strikeouts. In 2022, Megill recorded a 4.80 ERA over 45 innings pitched with the Twins, but recorded a not-too-shabby K/9 of 9.8. He’s struggled with control, holding a strikeout-to-walk ratio of just 2.88, but let’s hope that’s a teachable skill. What’s Next? After a day of rest, the Brewers will fly to Tampa Bay to start a series against the red-hot Rays. Adrian Houser will take the mound against a starter to be named later. The Rays currently have a record of 32-12 and lead the major leagues in pretty much every offensive category, such as hits, home runs, RBI, and OPS. After the rough stretch of the past month, the team OPS of Milwaukee is 20th, coming in at .704 as opposed to the Rays’ team OPS of .859. Maybe there’s a silver lining somewhere? Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet SAT SUN MON TUE WED TOT Payamps 19 0 0 34 0 53 Milner 27 0 0 22 0 49 Strzelecki 14 0 0 30 0 44 Williams 10 0 0 27 0 37 Varland 0 0 33 0 0 33 B Wilson 0 0 33 0 0 33 Peguero 0 0 0 23 0 23 Megill 0 0 0 0 12 12 Cousins 0 0 0 0 12 12 Tweet Highlight View full article

me after the sixth inning