WHAT HAPPENED
The Brewers bounced back from a tough defeat on Saturday to beat the Reds 4-1 and take two out of three games in the series. The big story of the day was Wily Peralta. In his last two outings, he only pitched a combined 7.2 innings, allowing 10 runs, 15 hits, and only striking out three batters. However, against the Reds he tossed seven strong innings, surrendering only one run, while striking out six. After giving up the lone Reds run in the second inning, Peralta only allowed one runner to get past first base for the rest of his outing.
The offense was carried by Ryan Braun, Jonathan Lucroy and Jean Segura. Braun started the scoring with a home run in the first inning. After the Reds tied the game, Lucroy singled in Martin Maldonaldo in the third inning to make it 2-1 Milwaukee. This was the play with the highest WPA on the day, at .112. Milwaukee would not relinquish the lead again.
In the eighth, Segura and Lucroy provided the insurance runs. Segura hit Milwaukee’s first triple of the inning, scoring Maldonaldo again. Then Lucroy lofted a sac fly to score Segura and make the game 4-1. Francisco Rodriguez bounced back from his horrific appearance on Saturday to get his 31st save of the season.
TURNING POINT
Martin Maldonaldo scored the 2nd and 3rd Brewers runs yesterday. He led off both the third and eighth innings with a double, and Craig Counsell called for the sacrifice each time to get Maldonaldo to third. The Brewers were fortunate that each time, they were able to drive in the run from third. However, the team shouldn’t be giving away outs. They’re fourth in the National League in sacrifice hits, these strategies should only be deployed when one run is at a premium. The third inning of a tie game isn’t a pressing situation. Up to that point, the Brewers had made solid contact off of John Lamb’s offerings. Why not let that inning play out and see where it goes? At least in the eighth inning, the play wasn’t as detrimental to the Brewers chances of winning (-.001 WPA compared to the third inning’s bunt worth -.012). While it didn’t cost the Brewers, why waste the leadoff doubles. Let everyone hit and see what happens.
TWO THINGS TO WATCH
Peralta’s velocity had decreased in his previous start, and it seemed to come back yesterday. His fastballs usually hover around 95 MPH. However, in his disaster outing against Cleveland, he barely touched 95, and his four seam averaged 90.67 MPH, down from 95.33 MPH against San Diego on August 3. The velocity dip was troubling and that start was a disaster. Luckily, he recovered yesterday and regained that lost velocity. This will be something to keep an eye on through September, but that was a nice step in the right direction.
Milwaukee has an off day today before beginning a series with the Pirates on Tuesday in Milwaukee. Despite their disparate positions in the standings, the season series is currently tied ay six apiece. Jimmy Nelson takes the mound for Milwaukee. He’s looking to rebound from a poor outing last week against Cleveland where he only pitched 3.1 innings and allowed 5 runs. The Pirates took two of three from the Rockies this weekend, but closed the series with a 5-0 loss. Unfortunately for the Brewers, Gerrit Cole will take the hill in the series opener. This season Cole has a 2.44 ERA, 2.69 FIP, and 3.43 DRA.