Milwaukee Brewers II: The Bullpen Strikes Back
Updated: Jan 10, 2019
Just like that, my love for the Brewers bullpen is reignited. The back end was as dominant as ever in the 4-0 victory, following some excellent work from starter Jhoulys Chacin.
Chacin, who hadn't pitched since game two of the NLDS, was more than serviceable over his 5.1 innings of work, shutting out the Dodgers, while giving up only three hits and striking out six. He then turned things over to the bullpen and my heart swooned. Knebel, Soria, Hader, Jeffress... two hits, one walk, no runs, EIGHT strikeouts. Things were a little dicey for Jeffress in the ninth after the Dodgers loaded the bases on back to back hits and a walk. Jeffress didn't panic though, managing to strike out Yasmani Grandal and Brian Dozier to finish off the game.
The performance brought the series K total for the bullpen to 22 through just three games. It was a big turnaround from game two in which the bullpen was the main reason for the loss.
The bats followed suit with what the bullpen was throwing down as well. In a game where they didn't need much offence, the Brewers brought a good amount of it. They compiled eight hits on the night, including an Orlando Arcia home run in the seventh, his second in as many games. Christian Yelich broke out a little bit, scoring a run on a 1-3 night.
Extra Innings
The Brewers bullpen has me looking like the embodiment of the heart eyes emoji right now with the way they're pitching. I don't know if this is a sustainable idea for the rest of the league, but I would love to see more teams take this approach.
The Dodgers bats have been quiet through the first few innings of every game so far. They're going to have to find a way to change that before it's too late.
Game 4 is on right now in Los Angeles. Gio Gonzalez vs. Rich HIll