Milwaukee will go right to its bullpen
MILWAUKEE — The bullpen day has come again.
The Brewers plan to open their first postseason series in seven years with a reliever. Manager Craig Counsell hadn’t decided who would go first when Milwaukee hosts the Rockies in Game 1 of the NL Division Series on Thursday.
Milwaukee led the majors with a 1.98 bullpen ERA in September, so why not go straight to a great strength?
“We’re going to share the outs a little bit more, but we really are confident with the days off in the series, the way we’re coming into the series, that we’ll certainly be able to do it,” Counsell said.
Those relievers will face a Colorado lineup that finally got a day off Wednesday after three games in three days in three different time zones.
Colorado faced Jon Lester, the Cubs’ tough left-handed starter, in the NL wild-card game Tuesday night, a 2-1 win in 13 innings. The Rockies managed just one hit in 62⁄3 innings off righty Walker Buehler in a 5-2 loss in Los Angeles in the tiebreaker game for the NL West crown Monday afternoon.
Now for something completely different.
“Well, I’ve never experienced that in the postseason, facing a bullpen, facing so many different guys,” Colorado outfielder Carlos Gonzalez said.
The A’s started reliever Liam Hendriks against the Yankees in the AL wild-card game Wednesday night. The trend of using an opener started with the Rays this year.
Facing a traditional starter, hitters hope to get a better read on pitches the second and third times through the lineups. Hitters probably won’t have that luxury in a bullpen day.
Colorado manager Bud Black is adhering to a simple approach.
“Again, I think the ultimate challenge is just have good at-bats, play baseball, have a good approach against any pitcher that the Brewers throw out there,” he said.
Milwaukee’s best starter, Jhoulys Chacin, started the tiebreaker game for the NL Central title Monday, a win over the Cubs at Wrigley. He’s going in Game 2 on Friday on three days’ rest.
Otherwise, the Brewers have been going with a rotation the past few weeks that includes left-handers Wade Miley and Gio Gonzalez, along with righthander Zach Davies. Miley and Davies would have been available on regular rest for Game 1.
The Rockies are sticking with a traditional starter for the opener. Right-hander Antonio Senzatela is 6-6 with a 4.38 ERA in 23 games, including 13 starts.
Senzatela made his bigleague debut at Miller Park last year. He allowed two hits and struck out six over five shutout innings in a 2-1 win.
His biggest challenge in a formidable Milwaukee lineup will be to contain Christian Yelich, the MVP candidate who hit an NL-high .326 this season and nearly won the Triple Crown.
Yelich hit .367 with 25 homers and 67 RBIs after the All-Star break to lead the Brewers’ second-half surge.
“Just got to throw quality pitches and compete,” Senzatela said.
For the Rockies, third baseman Nolan Arenado enters the series on a 10-game hitting streak. Over the stretch, he’s hitting .341 with four homers. He drove in the game’s first run against the Cubs in the wildcard game with a sacrifice fly in the first inning.
Arenado is coming off a regular season in which he led the NL with 38 homers. Genaro C. Armas is an Associated Press writer.