Struggles with clutch hitting haunt the Milwaukee Brewers yet again, as they strand nine runners on base on their way to a 4-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Entering tonight’s game, the Brewers’ main focus was to get a deep outing from their starting pitching and clean up the runners in scoring position. Unfortunately, neither issue was solved, despite one of them being out of the team’s control.
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Hopes were high for a deep outing, as Brandon Woodruff was making his third start since coming off the injured list. But after getting the first two batters of the bottom of the first inning out, Woodruff allowed a walk and a single to set things up for Adrian Del Castillo. He then hit his fifth home run of the season to give the Diamondbacks a 3-0 lead.
Things quickly turned for the worse for the Brewers after Woodruff’s velocity dropped drastically in the fourth inning. Curt Hogg reported that his changeups were sitting at 75 mph, seven ticks below his average speed on that pitch. Following that realization from the coaching staff, Woodruff was quickly pulled from the game. It’s the second time this season that Woodruff has left the game due to injury against the Diamondbacks.
At that point in the ballgame, we saw a masterclass from the rookie right-hander Craig Yoho, who threw 2.2 innings of perfect baseball, striking out just one batter. It was his longest appearance out of the bullpen in two years, when he did it with Triple-A Nashville.
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Following the departure of Woodruff, Christian Yelich broke out of his struggles at the plate with his first home run since June 17, as he smoked a two-run home run to right-center field. His home run snapped an 0-for-12 stretch at the plate.
After Yoho was pulled from the game, Jared Koenig came in for a relief appearance, as he was the lone pitcher to not appear out of the bullpen in last nights 8.1 inning work load. Getting the final two outs of the seventh inning, Koenig allowed the Diamondbacks to pick up an insurance run to extend their lead to 4-2.
Yelich’s two-run home run was the lone offensive production on the night until Jackson Chourio sent a ball over the left field wall with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to bring the Brewers within one run. Unfortunately, that was it for the Brewers offense, as it was another night of kicking themselves in the foot. The Brewers bats combined for 12 hits on the night, but once again, it was the struggles with runners in scoring position that were the kicker. Tonight, the Crew stranded nine runners in scoring position, finishing the night 1-for-10.
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On top of it all, the Diamondbacks collected just four hits as a team, riding the three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning throughout the entirety of the game. Merrill Kelly continued to dominate the Brewers as he went five innings, allowing two runs, two walks, eight hits, and struck out six batters. It was Kelly’s best outing on the mound since June 11 against the Miami Marlins when he didn’t allow any runs through six innings.
The Brewers will go for the rubber match and season series tomorrow at 3:00 p.m., as they play in their third primetime game of the season, as they make their season debut on Peacock.
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