KEY POINTS:
- The Brewers started a road trip in Colorado, but the offense struggled in the first two games of the series. The Brewers try to avoid getting swept by a lowly Rockies squad Thursday before they continue their road trip in San Francisco.
- Freddy Peralta flashes his swing-and-miss ability Tuesday on the same field where he started his MLB career in 2018. Peralta is the first Brewers pitcher to record double-digit strikeouts in a start so far this season, as he fanned 10 Rockies, but the Brewers ultimately ended up losing the game.
Peralta Returns to Colorado
The Milwaukee Brewers began their 6-game West Coast swing with a trip to Denver to take on the Rockies. Freddy Peralta took the mound Tuesday at Coors Field, a place full of positive memories for the Brewer’s starting pitcher. In 2018, Peralta made his MLB debut at Coors Field, where he tossed 13 strikeouts and took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. He did so on Mother’s Day with his family in the seats watching him pitch professionally for the first time.
On Tuesday, Peralta – who has pitched relatively well at Coors in his career – became the first Brewers pitcher to get double-digit strikeouts this season with 10. However, he stumbled slightly in the middle of his outing when he gave up solo homers in back-to-back innings, first to Ezequiel Tovar and then to Elias Diaz. However, Peralta gave up just those two runs on Tuesday in six full innings giving the Brewers another quality start.
Bats Go Quiet Early
The Brewers had difficulty offensively in this game. They left three runners in scoring position in the first two innings combined and could not get timely hits to drive them across the plate.
Feltner settled in after that and mowed the Brewers down until the sixth inning. Christian Yelich led off the top of the sixth with a double, followed by a Jesse Winker walk. Willy Adames advanced both runners on a ground out, and then Rowdy Tellez finally put some runs on the board for Milwaukee with a double.
The Brewers were then able to chase Feltner out of the game and get to the Rockies’ bullpen. William Contreras tied the game up 2-2 with an RBI groundout, but Brian Anderson could not continue to rally and stranded Tellez at third.
Brewers Drop Game One
Both teams traded off grounding into costly double plays in the later innings before C.J. Cron smoked a leadoff double in the eighth inning against Peter Strzelecki. Elias Diaz would get his second RBI of the night with a single to drive in Yonathan Daza, who pinch-ran for Cron. Daza would end up being the winning run.
However, the Brewers gave themselves a chance in the ninth inning. William Contreras doubled, but the Brewers would leave another runner in scoring position and drop game one 3-2.
The Struggle Continues
The Brewers would have another difficult time offensively on Wednesday against Kyle Freeland. The bats had a hard time hitting left-handed pitchers last season, and that trend has carried over into 2023.
The Brewers are a bottom-five offense in baseball for most metrics against lefty pitchers, and it showed against Freeland. He limited the Brewers to no runs on three hits for five full innings. It took the Crew until their last at bats to score a run in this game with help from three walks from Dinelson Lamet and a Tyrone Taylor sacrifice fly.
Rockies Best Brewers in Game Two
Eric Lauer – the Brewers starter on Wednesday – was sharp through the first three innings. He got himself into trouble in the fourth inning. Mike Brosseau committed a fielding error allowing Kris Bryant to reach base. Brewers fans had some deja vu when C.J. Cron hit another double that was followed by an Elias Diaz single to put the home team up 1-0. Randal Grichuck drew a walk which loaded the bases.
Lauer struck out Ryan McMahon and was close to getting out of the jam until Alan Trejo cleared the bases with a three-run double. Trejo extended the Rockies’ lead to 4-0. They would score two more on a Kris Bryant homer in the seventh and add another thanks to a Charlie Blackmon dinger in the eighth.
Avoiding a Sweep
The Brewers and Rockies will square up Thursday afternoon for the last time until August, when the two teams play at American Family Field. Wade Miley (3-1, 1.86) will start the game on the mound for the Brewers. He could have a better history of pitching well in Coors Field, but the Brewers need a strong performance out of him.
The Rockies will start Connor Seabold, but it will likely turn into a bullpen game for them as Seabold has not thrown more than 70 pitches in an outing this season.
