MILWAUKEE ¨C The Brewers were hoping that Tyler Alexander could give them four innings in a spot start. five at best. He gave them more than that.
For 6 2/3 innings, it looked like he may have set them up for a lot more than that.
Alexander, the 30-year-old swingman who signed with the Brewers at the start of Spring Training, held the Reds hitless into the sixth inning and saw Abner Uribe extend that bid into the seventh before the Brewers settled for a 3-2 win over the Reds at American Family Field on Friday.
Alexander finished with 5 2/3 hitless, scoreless innings and Brice Turang hit a two-run home run before the Brewers held off a late Reds rally, becoming the 13th team to start a season 0-4 and then win the next four games in a row.
¡°It was kind of a rollercoaster of a day,¡± Alexander said. ¡°I felt decent in the bullpen. The first inning felt very crisp. The second inning, it was quite sloppy. ¡ The game planning was easy. I just watched Nestor [Cortes].¡±
Cortes, a fellow left-hander with a similar arsenal, had held the Reds scoreless for six innings the night before in a blueprint for Alexander, who watched Cortes¡¯ outing from the bullpen. That was particularly helpful because Alexander could watch a pitch live, then look up and see the same pitch on the delayed television feed.
Yes, Alexander was aware he and catcher William Contreras were working on a no-hitter, though the stress of it, considering Alexander¡¯s three walks and a hit batsman along the way, was significantly lower than what he felt last May 17 while carrying a bid for a perfect game into the eighth inning for the Rays at Toronto. And yes, Alexander was aware that Cincinnati rode a 28-inning scoreless streak into Friday¡¯s game and had, improbably, lost three consecutive games by a 1-0 score.
¡°I think I saw it on TikTok,¡± Alexander said.
Was that a factor?
¡°That went into our game plan a little bit,¡± he said. ¡°We knew they wanted to score runs, so we were prepared for early bunts, early swings. For me, all that means is ¡®execute early.¡¯ Which, for the most part, I did.¡±
The 23,004 fans in the stands on Friday night probably weren¡¯t expecting to witness a bid for a no-hitter. Alexander is the rare pitcher who embraces the role of swingman, switching between relief and a starting role depending on his team¡¯s need. He pitched twice out of the bullpen during the Brewers¡¯ opening series at Yankee Stadium, then spent the start of the opening homestand preparing to start Friday night against a Reds team that was not only scuffling at the plate but was also depleted by an illness sweeping through the clubhouse that sent numerous personnel back to the team hotel, including Cincinnati manager Terry Francona.
None of those circumstances took away from Alexander¡¯s achievement. The Brewers have six starting pitchers on the injured list and are still waiting for left-hander Jose Quintana to complete his build-up, so they were overjoyed to watch Alexander walk off the field to a standing ovation with the bases empty in the sixth inning and two outs on the board thanks to Alexander¡¯s own defensive gem, picking up Elly De La Cruz¡¯s desperation bunt and firing to first base for the second out of the inning.
¡°He wanted to keep going,¡± Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. ¡°He kept saying, ¡®I¡¯m good. I¡¯m good.¡¯ And William backed it up.¡±
Abner Uribe recorded the final out of that inning, then retired the first two Reds hitters in the seventh before Wisconsin native Gavin Lux lined a single in front of Mitchell in center field for Cincinnati¡¯s first hit.
The Reds¡¯ scoreless streak finally ended at 35 innings in the eighth, when third baseman Oliver Dunn¡¯s error contributed to a pair of unearned runs against Brewers relievers Bryan Hudson and Joel Payamps. It was Cincinnati¡¯s longest scoring drought since going 37 innings without a run in 1946.
¡°The bullpen did a nice job, but Alexander was the story tonight,¡± Murphy said.
¡°He just mixed it up, mixed up different things,¡± said Reds acting manager Freddie Benavides. ¡°I think the guys were in between some pitches looking for certain things.¡±
Alexander¡¯s next assignment is yet to be determined. An off-day Monday provides some flexibility, and Quintana is slated to join the rotation on April 11 at Arizona. Alexander will be ready for any assignment.
¡°The mentality I take as a starter is kind of the mentality I take as a reliever, which is one inning at a time,¡± Alexander said. ¡°That¡¯s helped me out a lot.¡±