The Milwaukee Brewers picked up another big win on Wednesday night, their 93rd of the season, as they continue to push for the No. 1 seed in baseball with just 10 games remaining.
Brandon Woodruff started the evening with a 1-2-3 frame, including a pair of strikeouts against Mike Trout and Taylor Ward.
José Soriano then answered with a 1-2-3 inning of his own, though Sal Frelick started the inning with a walk before Jackson Chourio hit into a 5-4-3 double play.
Woodruff’s first baserunner allowed came in the second, as Jo Adell reached on catcher interference. After striking out Christian Moore, Oswald Peraza hit a single to center and, with Adell in motion, runners were at the corners. Peraza then stole second to put runners at second and third, but Woodruff escaped the inning unscathed with back-to-back strikeouts to give him five through two innings.
As the Brewers have done so often this season, they responded to the Angels’ attempted rally with a big five-run inning in the bottom half.
William Contreras started things with a walk, and a perfectly placed bunt single by Brice Turang put runners at first and second with no outs. Caleb Durbin popped out for the first out, but Jake Bauers followed with a line drive up the middle. With an exit velocity of 107.4 mph, Soriano didn’t have enough time to react, and the ball hit him in the arm. All runners advanced safely and Soriano, who looked to be in pain but good spirits, was removed from the game.
Connor Brogdon was forced to enter the game for L.A. in what was suddenly a bullpen game for the Angels. With the bases loaded and one out, Blake Perkins hit an opposite-field single into left to score Contreras and Turang for a 2-0 lead.
Andruw Monasterio followed with a flyout to center, but Frelick then fought through a nine-pitch at-bat, fouling off four straight pitches before getting a changeup right down the middle. He didn’t miss it, hitting it 382 feet over the wall in right for a 5-0 lead on his 11th homer of the year.
With an early 5-0 lead to work with, Woodruff settled in nicely, with another strikeout of Trout in a 1-2-3 third inning. Brogdon responded with his own 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half of the frame.
Looking to cut into the lead, Ward slugged a solo homer over the Brewers’ bullpen in left-center to begin the fourth, his 32nd homer of the year. Woodruff bounced back to retire the next three in order, and the Brewers went down in order in the bottom of the fourth as well.
Woodruff picked up two more strikeouts in a perfect fifth inning, and that marked the end of the night for him. After a long layoff between starts, Woodruff looked solid once again — even with slightly lower velocity — with just two hits allowed and no walks, striking out nine. That lowers his season ERA to 3.20 through 12 starts.
New pitcher Robert Stephenson set the Crew down in order in the fifth, and Nick Mears took over for Woodruff in the sixth. He recorded the first two outs without a problem, but Ward slugged his second homer of the night over the wall in left to cut the lead to 5-2. Mears got out of the inning with another flyout, but the Angels were now within shouting distance.
Looking for some more run support, Contreras slugged a one-out double down the line in left, and Turang followed with a walk. Durbin then hit a soft tapper, and former Brewer José Ureña came off the mound to field and throw to first for the out. Instead, he threw wide right of the bag, allowing everybody to advance as Contreras scored, Turang moved to third, and Durbin reached second. Bauers followed with a strikeout and Perkins grounded out to end the inning, but the run made it 6-2 Crew after six.
Erick Fedde worked a pair of scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth, wrapped around a 1-2-3 frame for Milwaukee in the seventh.
With the score still at 6-2 entering the bottom of the eighth, the Brewers were looking for that knockout punch before handing the ball over for the ninth, and they got it.
Yelich, Turang, and Durbin all walked to load the bases with one out. After Bauers popped out to third, it looked like the scoring opportunity might pass, but Perkins stepped up and drilled a bases-clearing triple on the first pitch he saw. Joey Ortiz popped out to end the inning, but for the second consecutive night, the Brewers had a 9-2 lead.
Abner Uribe got the ninth and struck out three batters around a Ward single, as he ended the night with three of the Angels’ four hits, scoring both of their runs and driving in both with his solo homers.
In what was a near repeat of Tuesday night, the Brewers once again won 9-2 behind some strong pitching, a balanced offensive attack, and a big homer, while all four of the Angels’ runs this series have come via solo homers. The Brewers have outhit the Angels 19-7 through two games.
The offensive heroes tonight were Frelick and Perkins. Frelick slugged the three-run homer in the second, while Perkins picked up five RBIs with a two-run single and a bases-clearing triple. Perkins was also the only player with multiple hits, though Turang reached three times with two walks and a single.
On the pitching side, Woodruff, Mears, Fedde, and Uribe combined to allow two runs on just four hits and no walks, striking out 14. Woodruff’s record improved to 7-2 with the win, and the Brewers are now 10-2 in his 12 starts this season.
The Brewers, now at 93-59 on the year, have lowered the NL Central magic number to seven, with MLB’s No. 1 seed magic number now at 9, pending tonight’s result between the Dodgers and Phillies.
Milwaukee is looking for another sweep as they’ll wrap up their homestand on Thursday night. First pitch is once again at 6:40 p.m. CT, with Quinn Priester starting opposite Yusei Kikuchi.
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