Peralta is strong out of the gate
Starter gets through first inning unscathed
It’s true with many pitchers that you can tell in the first inning what kind of game they are going to have.
But with Freddy Peralta, it has been especially telling. The first inning often has been a minefield for the Brewers’ rookie right-hander, who tried different warm-up schemes to change his luck.
Whatever Peralta did Wednesday morning, he should keep doing it. He out in the first inning and retired the Cincinnati Reds in order, on nine pitches, and never looked back.
“That’s a great first inning for anybody,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “It was certainly different, and I think it kind of let him exhale. It put him in a good rhythm, and he was obviously in a good rhythm all day.”
The result was a 4-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds that was more difficult than it had to be. The Brewers’ offense continues to make the least from the most (14 hits, five walks) but it was enough on this day, primarily because of Peralta’s performance.
Peralta allowed only three hits – all singles – and just two walks over seven innings, recording seven strikeouts along the way. He gets himself in trouble with wildness at times but rarely gets hit hard, allowing only 40 hits in 691⁄3 innings.
“There was not a lot of hard contact today at all,” Counsell said. “It was a lot of strikes. He was efficient. It was a very good performance for sure.”
Peralta entered the game with a 9.00 earned run average in the first inning, so it did nothing but bolster his confidence when he breezed through the opening frame.
“I did the same I’ve been doing (beforehand),” Peralta said. “Today, was a very good first inning. I want to be aggressive in the first inning and be agwent
gressive all the time. For me, it’s all the same.”
While the first inning had been a challenge for Peralta on the mound, swinging the bat was more like mission impossible. When he struck out in the second inning, it left him 0 for 22 in the majors with 11 strikeouts.
Or, as Counsell put it, “He has taken a lot of right turns back to the dugout so far in his hitting career.”
Accordingly, it was an easy call for the Reds to intentionally walk No. 8 hitter Manny Piña, who has been heating up at the plate, with a runner on second and two down in the fourth inning with a one-run lead. Peralta foiled that strategy with an RBI single up the middle, finally putting an end to merciless kidding from fellow pitchers about what a terrible hitter he was.
“I was waiting for this day,” Peralta said. “They’ve been saying, ‘When will you get your first hit?’ I said, ‘I will this year.’ They say, ‘No, maybe next year.’ I feel free now; I feel free.”
Peralta was asked what he would talk most about later – his seven shutout innings or his first major-league hit. If you’ve ever met a pitcher, you knew the answer.
“The base hit,” he said.
As often happens with the up-anddown Brewers these days, there still had to be a moment of truth to be navigated in the bullpen. The Reds loaded the bases off Taylor Williams with one out in the eighth on a pair of bloop hits and a walk.
Williams retired José Peraza on a fly to shallow center, bringing Scooter Gennett to the plate. In a tie game in the ninth Tuesday night, Counsell summoned lefty Dan Jennings to face Gennett, who crushed a first-pitch slider for the decisive home run.
Jennings was warming up again but this time Counsell summoned veteran right-hander Jeremy Jeffress, having the best year of his career. The difference was that Jeffress was not available the previous night after pitching a total of three innings on Sunday and Monday.
Jeffress retired Gennett on a fly to left, then put down the side in order in the ninth as the Brewers won a series for only the fourth time in 10 tries since the all-star break.
“That’s a tough spot to come in, obviously, against a good hitter having one of the better years in the National League,” Counsell said. “But he’s been so good all year, you’ve got to go with him.”
The offense continued to sputter with runners in scoring position (4 for 15), particularly the bases loaded, but leadoff hitter Christian Yelich did his part by reaching base five times. He led off the bottom of the first with a home run and fell a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.
“I was just trying to get on for those guys you’re in front of,” Yelich said. “That’s really your goal at the top of the lineup.
“That was a tough one (Tuesday) night. One of those weird things where things didn’t go your way. So, we really needed this one today. It was really good to see the guys bounce back and come out strong today, and win the series.”