Milwaukee pitching throttles Rox yet again
Colorado scores in only one out of 28 innings in NLDS
DENVER — Wade Miley pitched masterfully into the fifth inning before turning it over to a lights-out Milwaukee bullpen, 38-yearold catcher Erik Kratz kept up his torrid hitting and the Brewers beat the Colorado Rockies 6-0 in Game 3 on a cool, misty Sunday to sweep their NL Division Series.
The Brewers have won 11 straight dating to the regular season and advance to their first NL Championship Series since 2011. They will play the winner of the Dodgers-Braves series, starting Friday at Miller Park.
With manager Craig Counsell making all the right moves, Milwaukee’s pitching staff held Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story and the bruising Rockies to a combined two runs and 14 hits in the series. Of the 28 innings in the matchup, wild card Colorado scored in only one of them.
“The story of the series for us was certainly our pitching,” Counsell said. “We got a great start from Wade Miley. He did a beautiful job keeping them off balance.”
Making his postseason debut, Miley toughed the elements — he wore short sleeves when the temperature was 46 degrees — and was even tougher on Rockies hitters. The wily lefthander allowed three hits over 4⅔ innings.
A procession of five Brewers relievers allowed one hit the rest of the way. With two on, Josh Hader got Ian Desmond to fly out to end the ninth and start an on-field celebration.
The first one to greet Hader was Kratz, who made his second postseason start and finished 3 for 4 with a double. Acquired from the New York Yankees in May for a player to be named, Kratz is making quite a name for himself in the playoffs. He went 5 for 8 in the series.
“Our pitching staff doesn’t get enough credit,” said Kratz, who was doused over and over with sparkling wine in the Brewers clubhouse.
Orlando Arcia and Keon Broxton hit back-to-back homers in the ninth off Wade Davis to make it 6-0 and end any sort of drama. Jesus Aguilar had a solo shot in the fourth off German Marquez that Counsell sort of predicted.
The Brewers manager said Saturday, “Aggie is going to hit a home run in the playoffs, a big homer with men on base, I promise.”