The Milwaukee Brewers are currently trying to navigate the early part of the 2024 season without closer Devin Williams. Williams has stress fractures in his back that need to heal. His diagnosis came late into spring training in which at that time he was advised to take six weeks off from throwing and then begin six weeks of rehabilitation.
With Williams on the mend manager Pat Murphy has essentially been using a closer by committee type of approach. Abner Uribe got a few chances early on, Joel Payamaps has notched a save, and others like Trevor MeGill and Elvis Peguero figure to see ninth inning action as well. However, during the series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals a different reliever picked up the save.
The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 in extra innings.
On Friday, April 19 the Brewers and Cardinals went into extra innings. Milwaukee scored in the top of the 10th and rather than run out Joel Payamps for a second inning manager Pat Murphy called upon Hoby Milner to finish the game. Milner struck out Lars Nootbar to begin the inning, got Nolan Arenado to ground out, intentionally walked Willson Contreras, and then struck out lefty Nolan Gorman to end the game.
Hoby Milner recorded his first career save in 242 career appearances.
Over the past two seasons Hoby Milner has been one of the Brewers most frequently utilized relievers. He made 73 appearances a season ago and 67 in 2022. Throughout his entire eight year career, that spans back to tenures with the Los Angeles Angels, Tampa Bay Rays, and Philadelphia Phillies, he had never recorded a save until Friday night.
Post-game Hoby Milner was grateful for the opportunity to record his first career save.
On the mound Hoby Milner is calm and emotionless on the outside. This demeanor held true after he collected his first career save and during his post-game interview with Brewers media. He did acknowledge that he was grateful for the opportunity but more importantly he wanted to convey that the team pitched well today and didn’t lose the game.
The man of the hour, Hoby Milner: pic.twitter.com/BvzA4uE2cO
— Todd Rosiak (@Todd_Rosiak) April 20, 2024
The Brewers and Cardinals have two more games to play in this series. Both Saturday and Sunday’s games will start at 1:15 PM CT.
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