In a must-win game, Woodruff delivered
Don’t look now, but somehow, some way, the Milwaukee Brewers are as close to a playoff spot as they have been in nearly two months.
Brandon Woodruff shoved, Devin Williams escaped and the bats provided late insurance as the Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-1, Wednesday night at American Family Field.
Ninety miles south, the Chicago Cubs did their rivals a favor by defeating the reeling Philadelphia Phillies for a second straight night to pull the Brewers within half a game of the last wild card spot in the National League.
Brandon Woodruff is the man
Woodruff did what Woodruff does. Arguably already the best big-game pitcher in Brewers history, Woodruff turned in another gem: Six innings, 10 strikeouts, five hits, one walk and, most importantly, a goose egg on the scoreboard.
It was Woodruff’s fourth straight start recording at least 10 strikeouts, setting a franchise record. More importantly, he has a 1.33 earned run average over 26 innings in those starts.
“We know Woody is going to put up a great effort,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We know he loves to be in these games and you’re going to get a bunch of zeroes.”
Since 2018, Woodruff has thrown 87 regular-season innings in September or October with the Brewers within three games, behind or ahead in the standings, of a playoff spot. His earned run average? A crisp 1.97.
“This is my favorite time of year,” Woodruff said. “It’s the most fun you can have playing baseball, when it’s September and you have a chance to make the playoffs. I just love this type of baseball and in these moments. That’s when I can focus in more.”
The Brewers clubhouse has a confident sense of calm when they know Woodruff is getting the ball in a critical game.
“You see his name on the lineup and you know we got a pretty good change that day,” Williams said. “He’s been a dog out there. He’s been giving us six, seven innings, pretty much every time he’s gotten the ball. It’s fun to watch him when he’s rolling.”
Bush struggles; Williams comes through
The plan, according to Williams, was for him to be available to pitch in the eighth inning in the event the Brewers needed more than three outs from him to secure a win.
When Woodruff went six innings and handed the ball off to Matt Bush for the seventh, Williams figured the eighth inning may very well be his and began his warm-up routine.
As things turned out, he was needed even earlier.
Entering with a 2-0 lead, Bush ran into trouble once again. He started by surrendering a leadoff solo homer to Andrew Knizner, who hit two long balls in the series after entering with just two all season, then allowed a double to Ben DeLuzio and walk to Brendan Donovan.
After Bush recorded his first out on a
Dylan Carlson grounder to first, the Cardinals had men on second and third. Counsell summoned Williams.
“It would’ve been tough for me to sit there and watch somebody else going in, in that situation with where we’re at right now,” Williams said.
After intentionally walking Lars Nootbaar to load the bases, Williams delivered the first of many well-executed high-stress pitches, a 3-2 changeup that Juan Yepez rolled to shortstop Willy Adames.
Adames rushed the play with a slowrunning Yepez, opting to flip to second base with his glove. The ball sailed but Kolten Wong saved the day (and game) with a barehanded stab before pivoting and completing the double play at first.
Williams faced an adverse situation again in the eighth as St. Louis put runners on the corners with one out, but struck out Knizner and DeLuzio to escape.
“That’s the name of the game, you know?” Williams said. “Every time I pitch in a game, it’s a close game. I’m not really thinking about that as a high stress situation, even with the runners on and one swing of the bat ties the
game. It just is what it is.”
Brewers inch closer
For the last two weeks, the Phillies have been doing nearly everything they can to hand the final playoff spot to the Brewers.
Fourteen days ago, the Phillies led Milwaukee by 4 games. Since then, they have struggled immensely, losing nine of 12, including a 4-2 defeat to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday.
So for the first time since August 13, the Brewers were within a half-game of the Phillies.
“We’re aware of what’s going on,” Woodruff said.
The season wraps for the Brewers with four games against the Marlins beginning Thursday before three against the Diamondbacks.