{"id":48240,"date":"2021-06-24T01:22:23","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T05:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=48240"},"modified":"2021-06-24T01:22:23","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T05:22:23","slug":"brewers-diamondbacks-20210623","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2021\/06\/24\/brewers-diamondbacks-20210623\/","title":{"rendered":"Brewers Edge Diamondbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brewers 3, Diamondbacks 2<\/strong><\/h2>\n

PHOENIX, June 23 \u2014 Brandon Woodruff struck out nine and walked two in seven innings while allowing one run on three hits as the Milwaukee Brewers<\/a> downed the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a>, 3\u20132, Wednesday afternoon. Woodruff also drove in a run with a single in the fifth.<\/p>\n

Both teams were hitless until the fourth. Tyrone Taylor broke through for the Brewers, slapping a leadoff single against Diamondbacks starter Caleb Smith. After Avisail Garcia walked, three air outs kept both runners from scoring. The Diamondbacks notched their first hit on a leadoff single by shortstop Josh Rojas, one that tipped off the glove of a diving Keston Hiura at second base. A one-out walk by Josh VanMeter advanced Rojas to second, and a two-out walk by Asdrubal Cabrera loaded the bases for first baseman Christian Walker. A grounder to short ended the inning with the runners stranded.<\/p>\n

Brewers Take Lead over Diamondbacks<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Brewers plated their first run in the fifth. Jace Peterson led off with a double and advanced to third on a pickoff attempt as Woodruff was setting up to bunt. Smith\u2019s throw went into center field, where it was backed up, but Rojas hauled Peterson to the ground as the ball sailed past him. The resultant obstruction call put Peterson on third. Two pitches later, Woodruff brought Peterson home with a single to left.<\/p>\n

After Kolten Wong fanned for the first out, Luis Urias reached on a fielding error by Walker. Tyrone Taylor followed with a fly to the second baseman in shallow right, prompting an out due to the infield fly rule. When the ball fell untouched, it brought some anger from Brewers manager Craig Counsell, who did not feel the rule should apply on a missed fly ball. An intentional walk to Garcia restored a force at any base for Adames, who grounded into a 6\u20134 force play to end the frame.<\/p>\n

After all that silliness, the Brewers, somehow, only led by one run. They extended the lead, however, in the seventh after three straight singles off new pitcher Noe Ramirez to open the inning. The third brought in Urias to make it 2\u20130. After a fly to right put runners on the corners with one out, struggling southpaw reliever Joe Mantiply took the hill. A sacrifice fly from the first hitter he faced \u2014 center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. \u2014 made the score 3\u20130. During the next at-bat, an overeager Garcia \u2014 the runner on first \u2014 got into a pickoff-caught stealing scenario to end the frame.<\/p>\n

Diamondbacks Narrow Lead but Fall Short<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Diamondbacks grabbed a run in the bottom of the seventh on a solo home run by Walker. They added another when Eduardo Escobar led off the bottom of the eighth with a pinch-hit home run \u2014 the first of that type in his career. No more runs scored in that inning, bringing in Josh Hader to pitch the ninth for the first time all series. The all-but-automatic Hader pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out the first two hitters in the process. His 19th save of the season gave the Diamondbacks their 42nd loss in 48 games.<\/p>\n

Postgame Reflections<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Caleb Smith \u201cthrew the ball extremely well and is continuing to throw the ball extremely well,\u201d said manager Torey Lovullo. \u201cYou hold a team to one run over six innings, you\u2019re expecting to win a baseball game. But unfortunately, he had someone on the other side matching his zeroes.\u201d Since rejoining the rotation, Smith has given \u201cconsistency.\u201d He has given \u201cthe ability to command pitches (and) get a lot of swing and miss. He has good stuff. Really good stuff. When he\u2019s locating the way he is, he can get going with some quick innings and pitch deep into some games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith felt he \u201cthrew pretty well, for the most part. My fastball command was a little shaky at the beginning of the start, but (catcher Stephen Vogt) helped get me through it. He did a great job back there, called a great game. But overall, I think I threw the ball pretty well with the exception of a couple of pitches.\u201d He credited Vogt with quickly noticing that the fastball command was off. To counter, Vogt had Smith go to his offspeed early, something that Smith consistently threw for strikes.<\/p>\n

Holding Guys Accountable<\/strong><\/h4>\n

After the fifth inning, David Peralta laid into several of his teammates in the dugout, presumably about the defensive lapses. Lovullo appeared to be okay with it. \u201cWe all bark and have certain expectations. When things don\u2019t go right, \u2018from one player to another\u2019 is very powerful. If he was posturing people, I fully support it. I trust David. I\u2019ve asked him to be that kind of a leader \u2014 if he sees something he doesn\u2019t like, come in and make sure that everybody knows how he feels about particular plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, we were sloppy in a couple of areas today. We\u2019ve got to be better than that. We\u2019re having conversations right now \u2014 going to talk to these players about what it means to play Arizona Diamondbacks baseball. We\u2019ll get there. I\u2019m not looking for fistfights in the dugout \u2014 by no means. But I feel like, if one player can straighten up another, then I\u2019ll allow that to happen, but it\u2019s gotta be done in the right way and in the right taste\u2026. It\u2019s holding guys accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The reeling Diamondbacks (21\u201355), after an off-day Thursday, head to San Diego for a three-game weekend series against the Padres (44\u201332). Corbin Martin, Merrill Kelly, and Zac Gallen will start on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively.<\/p>\n

Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>