After a huge Game 1 victory on Thursday over the Los Angeles Dodgers and ace Trevor Bauer, the Milwaukee Brewers had their second game of the four game series Friday night.
The Dodgers had announced earlier in the week they would be having a “bullpen day” on the mound, while the Brewers would send out Freddy Peralta. He came into the game with a 2-0 record and 2.19 ERA over 24.2 innings pitched.
Earlier in the day, some fun and random news was announced regarding the Brewers.
Jordan Zimmermann had a April 30 opt out date in his contract. He was retired for about two hours before Brewers called with call up. He made the drive from Eagle River before game time. “I had about 6 hours to think about it yesterday in the car.”
— Sophia Minnaert (@SophiaMinnaert) April 30, 2021
It turns out, Jordan Zimmerman had an opt-out day of April 30th. He had decided to retire, and then two hours later, the Brewers called him up due to their continuing pile of injuries. Having depth pays off again for the Brewers, and a little bit of luck that Zimmerman wasn’t a week or so into retirement already.
JBJ Gets It Started
After a base-running error in the first by Omar Narvaez cost Milwaukee an out, the second inning got the Brewers offense going. After Avisail Garcia got on right away with a single, Jackie Bradley Jr. hit his 100th career home run. The 391-foot bomb gave Milwaukee the early lead 2-0, and was his second home run of the season.
#100!
Jackie Bradley Jr. puts the Crew ahead and sets a career milestone with that shot to right field.#ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/fIwIkVdczw
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 1, 2021
The Dodgers got a run back in the top of the fifth. Outfielder A.J. Pollock hit a 412 foot home run, and was also his second of the year.
Another Brewer Hurt
Why is everyone on the Brewers hurt? In the bottom of the sixth, Omar Narvaez hit a perfect single into right field against the shift. Unfortunately, he came back to first limping and was quickly removed from the game. The fact that Milwaukee has been this competitive with so many people hurt shows how talented this team really is.
The current Brewers injured list now consists of Tim Lopes, Mark Mathias, Derek Fisher, Justin Topa, Bobby Wahl, Lorenzo Cain, Christian Yelich, Brett Anderson, Josh Lindblom, Manny Pina, Daniel Robertson, Zack Godley, Corbin Burnes and now possibly Omar Narvaez. Yikes.
Old Friend Returns
Former Brewers starting pitcher Jimmy Nelson returned to Milwaukee and took the mound for the Dodgers. Nelson and his glorious new beard was a nice sight to see. He started the inning by walking JBJ. He then almost took off Luis Urias’s head. Urias hit a shallow out to center field the very next pitch. McKinney was up next, but not before a balk sent Bradley Jr. to second base. McKinney got out with a pop up next to home plate. Nelson was then replaced by Blake Treinen to face pitch-hitter Keston Hiura, who quickly grounded out to shortstop.
Another Solid Start for Freddy
Freddy Peralta ended his night with six innings, one walk, one run off of one home run and seven strike outs. He had 91 pitches, and 54 of them were for strikes. Peralta definitely had to work. He was not getting a lot calls, and his strike count probably should have been higher. Angel Hernandez gonna Angel Hernandez.
Brad Boxberger pitched a hitless seventh with a strike out. J.P. Feyereisen got the eighth and also pitched a scoreless weekend.
Rest of the Way
The red hot bat of Kolten Wong started off the bottom of the eighth with a lead-off double. Daniel Vogelbach had a shot up the middle but someone was there to record the out, but it did move Wong to third. Luke Maile, replacing Narvaez, was next. After a high-bouncing hit towards first, Wong was able to run home and score another run for the Crew while Maile was thrown out at first. Garcia then struck out. It was the insurance run the Brewers needed and nice to see that the third string catcher can get things done for the team.
Clap 'em up, clap 'em up 💯@KoltenWong | #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/pKg48XJfV4
— Bally Sports Wisconsin (@BallySportWI) May 1, 2021
Josh Hader took the mound for the save. He struck out Corey Seager. Justin Turner then went down on strikes. What happened when Max Muncy got up to bat? Strike out. The man is a machine. It was the seventh save for Hader on the season, and helped move Freddy Peralta to 3-0 on the season.
Milwaukee has now won the first two games of the series against Los Angeles. Even if they end up splitting the series, it is quite impressive to beat one of the best teams in baseball with half of your team on the injured list.
The Brewers beat the Dodgers 3-1. They will do again tomorrow at American Family Field at 6:10 CST.
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