Series Recap: Cardinals @ Brewers 4/14 - 4/17

Easter weekend Cardinals @ Brewers recap
Game 1 Brewers 5 - Cardinals 1

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/cardinals-vs-brewers/2022/04/14/661292#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=661292

Woodruff pitches five strong
Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff bounced back from a rough first start of the season to pitch five strong innings, allowing three hits and walking one. The Brewers struggling offense struck for four runs in the first three innings and tacked one in the sixth. The bullpen pitched four innings, surrendering just one run on a solo shot by Tommy Erdman in the eighth inning to hold on for a solid 5-1 win in the series opener.

After Woodruff worked a quick 1-2-3 top of the first, The Brewers looked to squander a great scoring opportunity after Kolten Wong led off with a triple. Willy Adames popped out, and Christian Yelich’s struggles continued until new addition Andrew McCutchen delivered an RBI single with two outs to open up the scoring

The Crewadded another run in the second on Omar Narvaez’s first home run of the 2022 campaign.

After struggling down the stretch in 2021, Narvaez getting off to a good start could be a big boost for the struggling offense.

Narvaez delivered in the third inning with an RBI double to put the Brewers up 4-0. Wainwright was done after 4 ⅓ innings, having already surrendered eight hits and his pitch count already up to 86 pitches.

Kolten Wong added an RBI base hit in the sixth to extend the lead to 5-0. Putting aside his first week of the season struggles, Wong went 2 for 4, with a triple, run scored, RBI, and a stolen base.

After Woodruff left the game after five strong, new bullpen arm, Trevor Gott was impressed with two innings of work, striking out two and allowing a lone single to Nolan Arenado in the seventh.

The lone Cardinals run led off the eighth, a solo home run by Tommy Erdman off of cleanup man Jandel Gustave. Gustave didn’t seem rattled and retired the next six batters to close out the series-opening win for the Crew. Woodruff picks up his first win of the season, improving to 1-1.

Game 2 Cardinals 10 - Brewers 1

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/cardinals-vs-brewers/2022/04/15/661267#game_state=final,game_tab=box,game=661267

Rough first inning sinks Peralta
Young starter Freddy Peralta looked to rebound from his rough first start in his home opener, and well, let’s say things didn’t go according to plan. Another rough first inning where Peralta struggled with location put the Brewers in a 4-0 hole early, and they never got back into the game. Offensively, the Crew didn’t fare much better. Cards starter Miles Mikolas spread three singles out over six ⅔ innings, and the Brewers never really threatened after getting down eight runs.

Trouble started early for Peralta. After retiring the first two Cards batters, he surrendered a double to Tyler O’Neill and walked the next two batters. Three consecutive singles later, Peralta and the Brewers found themselves in a quick 4-0 hole.

After the Crew went down quickly in the bottom of the first, Peralta struggled in the second, hitting Dylan Carlson, giving up two more hits and two more runs. It’s hard to gauge how much the shortened spring and reduced number of early off-days impact Counsell and other managers' decisions and bullpen management. Peralta didn’t have it in this game. He worked to get through three innings, throwing 77 pitches. It’s questionable whether or not the game was still within reach after the first inning at 4-0, and Counsell has to consider the availability of the arms in the bullpen going into the tail end of a four-game series. We'll have to hope whatever is going on with Peralta in his first few starts of the season is just an anomaly, and the Crew gets closer to 2021 Peralta going forward.

The bullpen picked up six innings in this one, with new Brewer Jose Urena tossing three innings and giving up two runs and a home run. Hoby Milner cruised through two innings on just 18 pitches, striking out a batter and giving up just one single.

The Crew avoided the shutout, with Omar Narvaez pushing McCutchen across with an RBI single in the seventh.

Infielder Mike Brousseau provided a fun highlight at the end of the game, pitching the ninth inning for the Crew, allowing a hit and a walk, but putting up a scoreless frame.

Game 3 Cardinals 2 – Brewers 1
Offensive struggles continue

The Brewers looked to rebound with noted Cardinals killer Adrian Houser on the mound from their game two loss. Houser threw 5 ⅔ strong, allowing just one run on four hits and three walks, striking out four, but again, the offense scuffled to put men on base, and the Crew fell, 2-1 to the rival Cards.

Houser and Cardinals starter Steven Matz dueled scoreless until the fourth when the Cards broke through with an RBI double by Paul DeJong. With men on second and third and two outs, Houser struck out Ryan Bader to end the threat and keep the game within one run.

Houser struck out the side in the top of the fifth, mowing through Knizner, Erdman, and Carlson.However, through the fifth inning, the Brewers had mustered only two baserunners themselves and had advanced nobody past second base.The game stayed 1-0 Cardinals until the eighth inning. Jake Cousins struggled with his control, walking one and giving up an RBI single to Corey Dickerson.

In the bottom of the frame, new Brewers backstop Victor Caratini got the Brewers on the board and back within one with his first homer in a Brewers uniform.

Unfortunately, it would be the last run of the night for the Crew. Willy Adames led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, and Hunter Renfroe popped out on the infield. With one out and a man on first and the potential go-ahead run at the plate, Craig Counsell chose to pinch-hit for Keston Huira with Rowdy Tellez. In and of itself, that’s an easy, almost no-brainer decision. However, in the wider lens, it says a lot about where Christian Yelich is in the pecking order right now. The offense is scuffling for runs, and your MVP from just a few years ago is on the bench in a one-run game while a mid-season injury replacement for Dan Vogelbach takes your at-bats.

Game 4 Brewers 6 – Cardinals 5
Offense breaks through in support of Ashby

In the series finale, the Brewers offense didn’t erupt, but the bats broke through for six runs, and it was just enough as the Crew held on for a 6-5 win. Aaron Ashby struggled with his command, throwing 34 pitches in the first inning, and lasting only four innings. He settled down after the first but gave up a three-run home run to Albert Pujols in the third after an error by Kolten Wong extended the inning. Still, some positive signs for Ashby. He struck out four, gave up only two hits, and probably got out of the third inning with no damage without the error by Wong.

On the positive side, the Brewers broke through early today, punching three runs across the plate in the first. Cards starter Dakota Hudson was even wilder than Ashby, putting on Brewers leadoff man Kolten Wong with a hit by a pitch, followed by Willy Adames and Christian Yelich taking walks to load the bases with nobody out. Andrew McCutchen delivered the game's first run with a sacrifice fly to centerfield. Instead of squandering the scoring opportunity, Rowdy Tellez lined a double into the left-center gap, scoring another run. Keston Huira flew out to shallow right field, and a throwing error on Cards catcher Andrew Knizner allowed Yelich to score.

Albert Pujols struck in the third with a three-run homer to tie the game, but the Brewers took the lead back in the bottom of the fourth with Willy Adames drawing a bases-loaded walk.

Ashby left after four, having already thrown 77 pitches. The Brewers bullpen held things down until the seventh inning, with Cousins, Gustave, and Brad Boxberger throwing a scoreless inning. In the bottom half of the frame, it looked like the Brewers would frustratingly toss out another scoring chance. With runners on second and third and no one out, Rowdy Tellez and Keston Huira both struck out. Tyrone Taylor picked up the offense, however, and delivered a clutch two-run double into the left-field corner

Devin Williams’ early-season struggles continued in the eighth inning as he walked three and surrendered two runs before Trevor Gott notched the final out of the inning to hold the lead at 6-5. Only ten games into the season, but skipper Craig Counsell may have to make an early decision on using Williams in high leverage situations moving forward as he continues to have trouble getting outs, and his ERA has now ballooned to over 12. It's hard to say yet what's going on with Williams. There's not a lot of data to sift through yet. Three innings pitched isn't just a small sample size; it's barely a sample. Watching the games, it looks like batters are looking for that change. Looking at the pitch data numbers, he's throwing the fastball and change roughly the same percentage, and his fastball velo isn't down an appreciable amount. As noted, it's not enough of a sample size to draw conclusions from yet, and everyone will have a different theory at this point, but it's important to note that it's ten games into the season and three innings from Williams. He started slowly last season as well, and by mid-season, he was as unhittable as he was in 2020 when he was the NL reliever of the year. Is it the lack of a full Spring Training? Is he fully back from the broken hand? Only the Brewers and Williams know the answers to these questions, but hopefully, he returns to form sooner rather than later.

Josh Hader came on in the ninth and went through the heart of the Cardinals order, striking out Tyler O’Neill and Nolan Arenado to end the game and secure the win and the series split.

Splitting the series with the Cards has the Brewers standing at 5-5 at the end of Easter Weekend, and given how the offense has struggled, setup man, Devin Williams can’t get outs, and key starter Freddy Peralta has gotten rocked both times out, standing at 5-5, ten games in could almost be looked at as a small miracle. Moving on to face the Pirates starting Monday, the Brewers look again to get over .500.