After a disappointing pitching and offensive performance in the opening game against Pittsburgh on Friday night, Brett Anderson and the Brewers’ offense bounced back for a convincing victory. The win came after the disappointing news that Christian Yelich was placed on the 10-day IL. Despite being short-handed, the Brewers were able to put seven runs on the board while limiting the Pirates to a single unearned run.
Brett Anderson’s Day
Brett Anderson pitched a season-high seven innings. He allowed six hits, one walk, and struck out three. The seven inning outing tied the longest outing by a Brewers’ starter this season.
Brett Anderson is the second Brewers pitcher to complete seven innings this season. Brandon Woodruff was the other — the day in Chicago he carried a no-hitter into the seventh.
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) April 18, 2021
Anderson has been a very solid starter over his past two outings. Even in his first start, in which he gave up four runs, he had only one bad inning. The Cubs tagged him for three home runs in a four-run fourth inning in his first start. In his next start, Anderson limited the Cardinals to one run over five innings. He was more efficient with his pitches today, keeping his pitch count low enough to finish seven innings. Anderson improved to 2-1 on the season. He also lowered his ERA from 4.50 to 2.65.
[pickup_prop id=”6161″]
The Early Inning Offensive Barrage
The Brewers scored early and often in the game’s first two innings. Jackie Bradley Jr. had three hits, including a leadoff single in the bottom of the first. After stealing second, the next two Brewers batters, Keston Hiura and Travis Shaw, made outs. It appeared the Brewers’ trend of leaving runners in scoring position with less than two outs was going to continue.
However, what followed was a series of singles that kept the runs coming across the plate. Avisail Garcia hit a broken-bat single to score Bradley. Omar Narvaez hit a single that moved Garcia to third. Next, Billy McKinney singled to score Garcia and moved Narvaez to third. Luis Urias followed with a single to score Narvaez, and McKinney also scored on an error by the center fielder. Urias moved to second on the error. Jace Pederson followed with a RBI single, making the score 5-0. Brett Anderson, finally, struck out to end the inning. All five Brewers runs in the first inning came with two outs.
In the second inning, Jackie Bradley Jr. led off with a triple. Hiura then doubled him home on a ball that nearly went over the right field wall. He moved to third on a Shaw ground out, and Garcia hit a sacrifice fly to score Hiura, making the score 7-0.
The Return of Eric Yardley
Eric Yardley was recently sent down to the alternate training site due to his early season struggles. However, the Brewers recalled him in a corresponding move to putting Yelich on the IL. Yardley came in to pitch the eighth inning with a comfortable six-run lead. He pitched a clean inning, allowing no walks or hits.
Another struggling reliever, Drew Rasmussen, pitched the ninth inning. He gave up a one-out single, but pitched around it for a scoreless frame.
Counsell Addresses the Injuries
The Milwaukee Brewers are without three Opening Day starters in Yelich, Lorenzo Cain, and Kolten Wong. Each of them, too, has a Gold Glove in their career. From the sound of things, Counsell does not expect the injuries to last too long.
For More Great Wisconsin Sports Content
Follow me on Twitter at @theotherAdams14 and follow us @WiscoHeroics1 for more great content. Check out our merch page here and use promo code Wisco at check out for $1 off! To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in Wisconsin sports, click here!