Brewers Pitchers- Wily Peralta (4 IP), Carlos Torres (1 IP), Chris Capuano (1 IP), Ariel Pena (1.2 IP), Blaine Boyer
Giants Pitchers- Madison Bumgarner (5 IP), George Kontos (1 IP), Cory Gearrin (1 IP), Hunter Strickland (1 IP), Josh Osich (1 IP)
HR - Scooter Gennett (1), Jonathan Villar (1), Matt Duffy (1), Denard Span (1), Joe Panik (1), Buster Posey (1)
SV - LOLNO
Today marked the official start of the Brewers 2016 as they faced off against the San Francisco Giants. Wily Peralta took the mound for the Brewers and come out spitting fire. He hit 97-98 multiple times according to the stadium gun and Game Day (which may or may not be the same, I'm uncertain). The first inning saw the Giants go down in order. But they came back with a vengeance in the second inning, taking a 2-1 lead in the process.
Madison Bumgarner, coming off a rough spring, battled through a flu today. I don't know for sure it's why he struggled as much as he did, but I thought I should mention it. Because struggle he did--at least in the first three innings. In the first inning gave up 1 hit and three walks. The third walk was of the bases loaded variety to Chris Carter, giving the Brewers a 1-0 lead.
By the way, someone probably won a crap ton of money on a prop bet today. Scooter Gennett his the Brewers first home run of the 2016 season. It came in the second inning (tying the game at 2-2) and it was against Bumgarner. It was Gennett's first major league home run vs a LHP. He's never hit them well and this really doesn't change that, but it was absolutely crushed to right field.
Jonathan Villar joined the home run leader board with a solo shot in the fourth inning.
Peralta's velocity stayed strong for the whole game, but he sat 94-96 after the first inning. That's still very good velocity. The problem is that he didn't really throw anything but fastballs and sliders. And as a result the Giants started getting their hits the second and third time through the order. After four innings of work he had allowed 6 hits, 2 walks, and 5 runs (4 earned) while only striking out two batters. The harsh truth is that if Peralta can't incorporate a third pitch more often (he has a changeup that he threw today, but only a handful of times), he's never going to be more than a league average starter. That's not a bad thing to be, mind you. But it means he's better suited to the back end of a rotation, rather than the front.
The early exit for Wily Peralta did the Brewers no favor. At that point the game turned into a one-sided home run derby. Of particular note were the back-to-back-to-back home runs by Denard Span, Joe Panik, and Buster Posey off of Ariel Pena in the eighth inning. He did not look good at all. He was missing his spots, hanging his slider, and his fastball sat around 92 mph. Whatever high heat he once had has seemed to have abandoned him at this point. Keep in mind though, the two worst relief performances in this game came from two pitchers (Carlos Torres, Ariel Pena) that might not have made the roster were it not for extensive injuries to the bullpen.
All told they burned through four pitchers to finish out the game. The final tally was 12-3. Tomorrow's game starts at 7:10 pm CT as Jimmy Nelson pitches opposite Johnny Cueto.
Items of Note:
-2B Scooter Gennett was 2-3 with a BB. The HR and BB came off LHP Madison Bumgarner
-RF Domingo Santana had two hits
-1B Chris Carter didn't get a hit, but he drew two walks
- LHP Chris Capuano appeared to tweak something in his neck. He could be seen grabbing and rubbing the back of his neck after he finished his inning of work. No word yet if it's anything that could cause him to miss time.