102-year-old Brewers fan Ruth Werner throws the first pitch
102-year-old Brewers fan Ruth Werner throws the ceremonial first pitch at American Family Field on Thursday, August 15
Courtesy of Milwaukee Brewers
William Contreras has found his strength and helped him to a second consecutive victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday night.
The catcher hit a solo home run to left in the fourth inning, and that hit stuck for the rest of the game as the Milwaukee Brewers won the teams’ interleague series with a 2-1 victory at American Family Field.
The home run was the second in the last three games, the fourth in the last six and the sixth this month for Contreras, who has already hit 17 home runs this season.
Result: Brewers 2, Guardians 1
“The kid has the potential to be a fabulous, complete hitter,” said manager Pat Murphy, whose team improved to 71-52 and remains ten games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central Division standings.
The Brewers’ 28-14 record in interleague play is their best in the major leagues this season.
“One of the best hitters in the game. And power is part of his game,” Murphy continued. “He hasn’t changed anything or done (anything) (different). He works very hard. He stays disciplined and practices his throwing technique a little better. And when he gets the throws he wants that are around the plate or a little softer, he can hurt you.”
The teams combined for eight hits in the game and three in the final five innings. It felt like a playoff-like matchup, with strong pitching from starters Freddy Peralta and Tanner Bibee, both bullpens, and solid defense in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 37,518.
“That was a good major league baseball game,” Murphy agreed. “It was.”
The Brewers struck first when Brice Turang worked a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first inning, advanced to second base on an errant pickoff throw by Bibee and scored on a double by Gary Sánchez to left center field.
Milwaukee was close to scoring another run when Willy Adames hit a blooper into short center with two outs, but Tyler Freeman made a great catch to keep the game at 1-0.
Peralta was one strike away from going four scoreless innings when batter Josh Naylor went up, caught a fastball and sent it to right field for his 27th home run to tie the score at 1-1.
“All the way,” Peralta said. “I executed it; it was a throw we thought was the right one. That was the plan before the game. If you watch the video, you’ll probably see Gary just say (shrug). We did what we thought was right.”
“Great for him.”
Milwaukee didn’t wait long to retake the lead, however, as Contreras took Bibee out of the game on a 1-2 count with one out in the bottom half of the inning to left.
It was a laser beam traveling at 177 km/h and was considered the hardest hit ball in the game.
“I’m just feeling really good at the plate right now,” said Contreras, who along with Adames and Rhys Hoskins have helped make up the gap in run production since Christian Yelich is out for the rest of the season after undergoing back surgery on Friday.
“I feel really comfortable. I’m not trying to do too much. I’m just trying to help the team as best I can.”
What could have been a problematic walk for José Ramírez with two outs in the sixth inning was ultimately cancelled out when Peralta (8-7) threw out Naylor after Ramírez stole both second and third base and was just 90 feet away from the potential tying run.
This left Peralta with 81 pitches left, but Murphy decided not to give him a chance to start at least the seventh inning.
“He’s back on four days. We’ve got a long way to go here,” Murphy said. “There was no thought, and he was OK with it. Now when he allows runs there, you think, ‘What are you going to do if you take him out in this inning?'”
“The last pitch (to Naylor) was a pretty emotional pitch. As a pitcher, you come out of a situation like that and you know when it’s over. I don’t know how many pitches he was in, but that was it.”
Peralta’s previous season low for pitches was 88, set on April 5. He allowed four hits and one run with two walks and three strikeouts in his 10th quality start of the season, a team lead.
“We made this decision together,” Peralta said of his six-run exit. “I see no reason why I should come back again. I knew we had the guys fresh behind me and I was fine. For me, it was the best decision. We were leading by one run and they had seen me twice; three times at the top of the lineup.”
“It was no problem for me to let the bullpen take over the rest of the game.”
There was nothing wrong with the outcome of the game, as Joel Payamps finished the game that night after making his first save of the season. The right-hander has allowed just one run in his last 14 appearances.
Jared Koenig struck out the team in the eighth inning and Devin Williams put Cleveland behind 1-2-3 in the ninth inning, earning his fourth save and securing a winning home stand with a chance of a sweep against an excellent Guardians team on Sunday.
“We’re playing well on both sides of the ball right now, both offensively and defensively,” Contreras said. “I think maybe some people didn’t expect us to win so many games at this stage.
“We go out there every night to play our best game and I think we’ve accomplished that.”
Brewer’s time, television, radio
The Brewers game starts at 6:15 p.m. on Saturday.
Television: Fox. Radio: AM-620 and a state network.
Brewers lineup
- Brice Turang2B
- Jackson Chourio LF
- Gary Sanchez C
- William Contreras DH
- Willy Adames SS
- Jake Bauer’s 1B
- Sal Frelick RF
- Garrett Mitchell CF
- Joey Ortiz 3B
Guardians lineup
- Steven Kwan LF
- Will Brennan DH
- Jose Ramirez 3B
- Josh Naylor 1B
- Lane Thomas RF
- Andrés Giménez 2B
- Tyler Freeman CF
- Bo Naylor C
- Brayan Rocchio SS
Brewers Schedule
Brewers vs Guardians, Sunday, 1:10 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Colin Rea (10-4, 3.72 ERA) vs. Cleveland RHP Ben Lively (10-7, 3.71). Broadcasts: Television – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.
