Brewers Stat of the Day: April 2021
MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Brewers this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.
April 30: Brewers 3, Dodgers 1 -- Five-plus innings, one or fewer hits
Freddy Peralta had momentary lapses of command during a 91-pitch outing but was stingy with hits, holding the slumping Dodgers to AJ Pollock¡¯s fifth-inning solo home run but nothing else. It¡¯s already the sixth outing this season by a Brewers starter of at least five innings while allowing no more than one hit, three shy of the record for such starts -- nine -- which is shared by four teams including the 2018 Brewers. Besides that club, the 2018 Rays and Braves and the 2016 Dodgers also had nine starts of five or more innings with one or fewer hits.
April 29: Brewers 2, Dodgers 1 -- Lauer is somehow Dodgers' kryptonite
As much of a problem as the Dodgers have posed to the rest of MLB over the past four seasons, Eric Lauer has proven to be the solution. With a win against the defending World Series champions on Thursday, Lauer now has a 6-0 record and a 1.89 ERA in his career versus Los Angeles. In eight starts, he has recorded a 46-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio and allowed just 11 runs (10 earned) in 47 2/3 innings. Lauer is just 9-19 with a 5.24 ERA in 50 appearances facing Major League teams not named the Dodgers.
April 28: Marlins 6, Brewers 2 -- Wong's post-IL success continues
Lost in the roller coaster of a series finale between Milwaukee and Miami was a game-tying two-run home run by Brewers second baseman Kolten Wong. The third-inning blast continued Wong's success at the plate since he returned from the injured list on Friday. In the six-game stretch, Wong is hitting .524 (11-for-21) with two home runs and four RBIs. He has also raised his on-base and slugging percentages from .346 and .105 after April 8 to .438 and .550.
April 27: Brewers 5, Marlins 4 -- Crew has pitchers who rake
Brandon Woodruff has the better reputation among Brewers' pitchers for being able to swing the bat, but it was Adrian Houser who hit the first home run for a Brewers pitcher since Aaron Wilkerson on April 17, 2019. Houser became the 27th different Brewers pitcher to hit a homer, and two of them are teammates on this years club. Brent Suter, who followed Houser in relief on Tuesday, hit a home run off then-Indians ace Corey Kluber in May 2018, and Woodruff has homered in both the regular season (July 2018 against the Pirates' Nick Kingham) and the postseason (2018 National League Championship Series against the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw).
April 26: Marlins 8, Marlins 0 -- Burnes, Woodruff elite pair
Even after allowing four earned runs for the first time in 19 outings since July 2019, Corbin Burnes is off to one of the best starts for a starting pitcher in franchise history, and Brandon Woodruff is right there with him. Here are the Top 10 ERAs all time for Brewers pitchers through their first five games in a season when those games are all starts:
? 1.11 Ricky Bones (1994)
? 1.37 Chris Bosio (1989)
? 1.39 Bosio (1990)
? 1.42 Yovani Gallardo (2014)
? 1.53 Burnes (2021)
? 1.55 Woodruff (2021)
? 1.62 Teddy Higuera (1990)
? 1.64 Ben Sheets (2004)
? 1.65 Zach Davies (2019)
? 1.69 Pete Broberg (1975)
April 25: Brewers 6, Cubs 0 -- Crew finally set to face southpaw On Sunday, Jake Arrieta was the 21st consecutive right-hander to start against the Brewers this season, a streak that's finally set to end if Marlins left-handers Trevor Rogers and Daniel Castano pitch as scheduled on Monday and Tuesday at American Family Field. According to Brewers PR, the longest the team had gone into a season without facing a left-handed starter was 15 games in 2004. The last team to open a season with 21 or more consecutive games without facing a lefty starter was the Rockies, who faced righties in their first 23 games in 2006.
April 24: Brewers 4, Cubs 3 -- Big day for Ray
It's not easy to do what Corey Ray did on Saturday, calm those butterflies and stay quiet enough at the plate to take a walk in his Major League debut. Ray became only the sixth player in Brewers history to take a walk and score a run while playing in his first career game, joining former Minor League teammate Jacob Nottingham, who did it just three years ago in 2018. Before that, one has to go all the way back to Dave Nilsson in 1992.
April 23: Cubs 15, Brewers 2 -- Tough day for run differential
Brett Anderson's right hamstring injury and Josh Lindblom's struggles in relief sent the Brewers to a loss that tied for their second-most-lopsided defeat ever to the Cubs, one run shy of the 19-5 drubbing absorbed by Jeff Suppan & Co. on April 30, 2008. That game also began with the Cubs scoring six runs in the bottom of the first inning.
April 21: Brewers 4, Padres 2 -- Narv¨¢ez surpasses 2020 marks
Brewers catcher Omar Narv¨¢ez picked up two more hits in the series finale against the Padres to bring his season total to 19 in just 48 at-bats. He matched his hit total from the entire 2020 season, when he hit safely 19 times in 108 at-bats. He also hit his third home run of the season in the sixth inning, which already surpasses the two he hit all of last season.
April 20: Brewers 6, Padres 0 -- Burnes does the unprecedented
Corbin Burnes has 40 strikeouts and no walks through his first four starts, an unprecedented start to a season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, which has data back to 1893, Burnes now owns the record for strikeouts by a starter before issuing his first walk. (Adam Wainwright had the old mark, with 35 strikeouts in 2013 before he walked a batter.) And according to STATS Inc., Burnes is the first pitcher in the modern era (since 1901) to have 40 strikeouts and no walks in a stretch of four games -- at any point in a season.
April 19: Brewers 3, Padres 1 -- One-hit wonders
Brandon Woodruff allowed one hit in six innings. That marked the fifth time in the first 16 games that Milwaukee's starting pitcher has gone at least five innings and allowed only one hit. The others: Corbin Burnes on April 3 vs. the Twins (6 1/3 innings), Freddy Peralta on April 6 at the Cubs (five innings), Woodruff on April 7 at the Cubs (seven innings) and Burnes on April 8 at St. Louis (six innings).
April 18: Pirates 6, Brewers 5 (10) -- Getting off to good starts
With three full turns of the rotation in the books, the Brewers have done a good job getting off to positive starts. With two more early runs Sunday, the Brewers have outscored opponents by a 17-1 margin in the first inning this season and haven't allowed a first-inning run in 12 consecutive games. The only run allowed in the first inning by the Brewers through 15 games belongs to the Twins, who scored off Adrian Houser on April 4.
April 17: Brewers 7, Pirates 1 -- Early run production
The Brewers have outscored opponents 15-1 in the first inning this season, a dramatic departure from one of last year¡¯s storylines. Through their first 14 games in 2021, they have already matched their first-inning run production from all of 2020, including 60 games during the shortened regular season plus two games against the Dodgers in the postseason. The Brewers were outscored by a 33-15 margin in the first innings of those 62 games in '20.
April 16: Pirates 6, Brewers 1 -- An unfortunate 1st for Williams
Reigning National League Rookie of the Year and Reliever of the Year Devin Williams' calling card is a nasty changeup that few batters could hit last season. That didn't matter to Gregory Polanco. The Pirates' right fielder smoked one of Williams' changeups straight to center field for a two-run shot in the top of the eighth. That was the first home run Williams allowed on his changeup in his MLB career, and just the fourth hit a lefty has gotten off his change since the start of last year.
April 14: Brewers 7, Cubs 0 -- 30 strikeouts, no walks
According to Brewers manager Craig Counsell, the most amazing of Corbin Burnes' eye-popping stats is this: Thirty strikeouts and no walks, making Burnes the only pitcher in 120 years of MLB¡¯s modern history to do that through his first three outings. If Burnes keeps going, he¡¯ll be in record territory.
The Cardinals¡¯ Adam Wainwright holds the Major League mark for a starting pitcher, with 35 strikeouts in 2013 before issuing his first walk, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen holds the overall record; he struck out a remarkable 51 batters in '17 before issuing his first walk.
April 13: Cubs 3, Brewers 2 -- Crew staff leads in ERA
The Brewers were held to three hits and saw a lead get away in the eighth inning in Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Cubs, but if they keep getting this kind of starting pitching, odds are they'll be competitive deep into the season. With Brandon Woodruff's six-inning, one-run outing, the Brewers have had their starter work at least five innings and allow no more than one run in seven straight games, matching a club record. And the ERA of Brewers starters is 1.94, best in MLB by a reasonably wide margin. Cleveland is second at 2.43 after Shane Bieber's complete-game shutout on Tuesday.
April 12: Brewers 6, Cubs 3 -- Peralta extends remarkable streak
Freddy Peralta logged 10 strikeouts while holding the Cubs to one run in six more electric innings on Monday. It marked the sixth straight game that the Brewers' starter pitched at least five innings while allowing no more than one run, putting them one game shy of the longest such streak in franchise history. The mark was set by this collection of starters in August 2011: Marco Estrada, Shaun Marcum, Randy Wolf, Yovani Gallardo, Zack Greinke, Estrada and Marcum.
April 11: Brewers 9, Cardinals 3 -- A tremendous rotation turn
Beginning with Freddy Peralta's start at Wrigley Field on Tuesday through Brett Anderson¡¯s outing at Busch Stadium on Sunday -- with Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes and Adrian Houser in between -- the Brewers completed one of the best turns through the rotation in franchise history, with those five pitchers combining for a 0.32 ERA during that span. According to Elias Sports Bureau, it's the first time in franchise history that the Brewers had five straight starts of five-plus innings with those pitchers combining to allow no more than one earned run. Though it was rare in Brewers lore, it's not unheard of in the Majors; the last club with a stretch like that was the 2019 Dodgers (Walker Buehler, Kenta Maeda, Hyun Jin Ryu, Dustin May and Clayton Kershaw).
April 10: Brewers 9, Cardinals 5 -- Garc¨ªa racks up RBIs
Big day for Avisa¨ªl Garc¨ªa -- a fifth-inning home run, a seventh-inning double and an eighth-inning walk helped Garc¨ªa drive in five runs in the Brewers' 9-5 win over the Cardinals on Saturday. That not only accounted for all of Garc¨ªa's RBIs in 2021, but it also was the third time in his career that he had at least five RBIs in one game. The only other time came in 2017 while he was with the White Sox: May 20 (six) and Sept. 14 (seven).
April 8: Cardinals 3, Brewers 1 -- Burnes pitching like Cy Young
He has a loss and a no-decision to show for it, but Corbin Burnes just became the first pitcher in modern history (since 1901) with consecutive starts of six-plus innings with no walks and no more than one hit allowed. Only two other pitchers have done the same in back-to-back outings, and each pitched once in relief -- 1963 Houston Colt 45 Hal Brown and 1904 Boston American Cy Young.
Of the three, Burnes was the only one to deliver those back-to-back gems in his first two games of a season.
April 7: Brewers 4, Cubs 2 (10 innings) -- Devin Williams isn't perfect
After allowing a game-tying home run to Joc Pederson on Wednesday, Devin Williams has allowed more earned runs in his first two appearances of 2021 -- two -- than he allowed in 22 appearances in all of 2020, when Williams won the National League Rookie of the Year Award and finished the year with 20 consecutive games without an earned run on his record.
April 6: Brewers 4, Cubs 0 -- Peralta's elite K rate
Add eight more strikeouts (and four walks) in five electric innings for Freddy Peralta on Tuesday as the Brewers' right-hander continues to expand his arsenal and post eye-popping whiff rates. Among Major Leaguers who have logged at least Peralta¡¯s 199 2/3 innings since the start of 2018 (the year he debuted), only Chris Sale, Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer have more strikeouts per nine innings. Here¡¯s the Top 5: 1. Sale (13.41), 2. Cole (12.96), 3. Scherzer (12.43), 4. Peralta (12.26), 5. Justin Verlander (12.13).
April 5: Cubs 5, Brewers 3 -- Hiura's slash line: .000/.063/.000
Keston Hiura slugged .529 on fastballs in 2019, when he hit more home runs than any rookie in Brewers history not named Braun or Fielder. Even as he slumped in 2020, Hiura slugged a respectable .456 on fastballs ¨C with an expected slugging percentage of .526 on that pitch. This year, Hiura is stuck on zeros during an 0-for-15, eight-strikeout start to the season, and it is odd to see him missing fastballs right down the middle. In Monday¡¯s 5-3 loss to the Cubs, he swung through two middle-middle fastballs before striking out on a slider. In the sixth, Hiura again swung right through a fastball on the first pitch -- an 89.1-mph sinker from Trevor Williams -- for Strike 1. Two pitches later in a 1-1 count, Hiura got another sinker down the middle, but he fouled it off. He then grounded to third for an inning-ending double play.
April 4: Twins 8, Brewers 2 -- Crew's struggles vs. starters
Brewers manager Craig Counsell's takeaway from his team's opening series against the Twins: "We have to do a better job against starting pitchers." The Brewers managed two runs (one earned) on 10 hits in 15 1/3 innings against Twins starters Kenta Maeda, Jos¨¦ Berr¨ªos and Michael Pineda while dropping two of three games. That continues a problem from last year, when the Brewers hit .207/.290/.363 against starters -- the worst batting average and slugging percentage in baseball, and the fourth-lowest on-base percentage.
April 3: Brewers 2, Twins 0 -- Berr¨ªos, Burnes take dueling no-hitters through six
Through six innings Saturday, the Brewers' Corbin Burnes and the Twins' Jos¨¦ Berr¨ªos each had at least 11 strikeouts and no hits allowed. That's the first time in modern MLB history (since 1900) opposing starters achieved that feat in the same game.
April 1: Brewers 6, Twins 5 (10 innings) -- Hader throws hardest pitch of career
Josh Hader threw his hardest pitch ever on Thursday: 99.6 mph for the second of three straight strikeouts in the top of the 10th inning against the Twins. Before that pitch, he'd never thrown harder than the 99.2 mph four-seamer against the Cubs¡¯ Willson Contreras on Oct. 1, 2018, at Wrigley Field -- the NL Central tiebreaker game, in which Hader closed the door on a 3-1 Milwaukee victory and the third division crown in franchise history. Hader threw the three hardest regular-season pitches of his career that day, all in that at-bat against Contreras. His hardest postseason pitch was 99.1 mph in the Brewers' sweep-clinching win over the Rockies in Game 3 of the 2018 NLDS.