Brewers 4, Cardinals 0
Adrian Houser became the first Brewers pitcher to throw a nine-inning shutout since 2014,
As tremendous as the Milwaukee Brewers’ starting pitching has been this season, and it has been the strength of the team since Day 1, no one had come close to doing this.
A complete-game shutout.
The Brewers had gone 612 games without a pitcher tossing nine goose eggs, the second-longest drought in the majors, but Adrian Houser put an end to that nonsense Saturday night by going the distance in a 4-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at American Family Field.
Houser’s pitching gem came one night after the Cardinals pummeled the Brewers into submission by a 15-4 score. Imagine that.
Houser, who entered the game with a 7-6 record and 3.69 earned run average, allowed only three singles while walking none and striking out seven. He became the first Brewers pitcher to throw a nine-inning shutout since Kyle Lohse on Sept. 24, 2014.
It was the first nine-inning complete game, period, for the Brewers since Jimmy Nelson went the distance in a 2-1 victory over San Diego on June 18, 2017.
At the 91-pitch mark entering the ninth, Houser drew a standing ovation from the 33,439 on hand when he took the mound for the ninth inning. And the ovation was even louder when he recorded the 27th out and put his name in the Brewers’ record book.
After falling behind early and getting squashed by 11 runs the previous night, the Brewers wasted no time getting to St. Louis starter Kwang Hyun Kim, who had a 1.04 earned run average against them in three previous starts. Leading off the bottom of the first, Luis Urías hammered the second pitch he saw out to left for his 19th home run of the season.
When Willy Adames and Christian Yelich followed with singles, the Brewers had a chance to hang a crooked number on the board. But Kim caught a huge break when Eduardo Escobar smoked a shot off the pitcher’s mound that caromed high behind second base, where Tommy Edman gloved it and flipped back to shortstop Edmundo Sosa to start a wicked double play.
Lorenzo Cain led off the Brewers’ second with a walk and headed for third as Rowdy Tellez singled to right-center. Dylan Carlson’s throw hit the sliding Cain’s right hand and caromed into the
St. Louis dugout, an error that allowed the runner to score.
Luke Maile, subbing for injured backup catcher Manny Piña, yanked a ground-rule double into the left-field corner, scoring Tellez from second to make it 3-0. After Houser popped out, Urías came through again with a base hit to left to send home Tellez though getting thrown out at second by Tyler O’Neill trying to go for two.
When Adames followed with his second hit, that was all for Kim, who surrendered seven hits and four runs while recording only five outs.
The Cardinals continued to show off their outfield arms in the bottom of the third when Eduardo Escobar sent a drive off the wall in right and was thrown out by Carlson’s perfect throw trying for two bases. Jace Peterson followed with a popup so high it struck a guide wire in the roof, but Sosa adjusted to make the catch.
Houser mowed through the St. Louis lineup through the first four innings, allowing just one ball out of the infield while putting down 12 in a row with five strikeouts. The string ended when Nolan Arenado jumped on his first pitch in the fifth and lined it to left for a hit.
Unfazed by that first hit, Houser popped up Carlson and induced Yadier Molina to ground into a double play.
The Brewers needed Houser to stay in command because they were unable to crack the pitcher who took over for Kim, right-hander Jake Woodford. In a bullpen-saving effort, Woodford went 51⁄3 shutout innings, allowing two hits and no walks while striking out five.
Houser allowed his second hit in the seventh when Edman led off with a single. Houser didn’t flinch, retiring the next three hitters to keep the Brewers in command.