Nelson’s strong start leads Brewers to 3-2 over Dodgers

WP: Jimmy Nelson (10-6)
LP: Yu Darvish (8-10)
SV: Corey Knebel (29)

HR: Hernan Perez (13)

Box Score

If the last two days are a glimpse into the future of the Brewers rotation, it looks like it’s going to be a good one.

Following Zach Davies’ start from yesterday, Jimmy Nelson came out with a strong performance of his own. He began the day by retiring 16 of the first 17 batters he saw, allowing just two walks in his first 5 ¹⁄₃ innings. He got into trouble after that, allowing two singles and a double to allow two runs to score. Nelson would come back out for the seventh, recording two outs before his day would come to an end. In total, he pitched 6 ²⁄₃ innings, allowing just the two runs on two walks and four hits while striking out six.

Meanwhile, the Brewers offense did just enough to make sure that the start wasn’t wasted. They got another first-inning run today, as Eric Sogard led off the game with a walk and then advanced to third on a Neil Walker single. He would then score on a ground ball from Travis Shaw that Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager misplayed, giving the Brewers a 1-0 lead.

The Brewers would get another two runs in the third inning. Hernan Perez hit a sholo home run to center field to increase the lead to 2-0. A walk from Walker and double from Shaw then put runners at second and third. Domingo Santana followed them with a single to increase the lead to 3-0, but Travis Shaw would be thrown out trying to score on the play. That would be the extent of the Brewers offense on the day, as they only had two baserunners in one other inning, and that was erased on a double play in the fifth inning. In total, the offense struck out fourteen fimes today, though they did record eight hits and four walks as well.

It also followed the Brewers pattern of run scoring this season. The first and third innings are the innings where they have recorded the most runs this season. After today’s game, here is a breakdown of their inning-by-inning runs scored (all are based off 131 games unless noted otherwise):

• 1st: 97
• 2nd: 71
• 3rd: 82
• 4th: 73
• 5th: 69
• 6th: 70
• 7th: 58
• 8th: 34
• 9th: 33 (in 99 games)
• Extra: 9 (in 13 games)

After Nelson gave up two runs in the sixth inning, the Brewers lead was down to 3-2, and they turned the game over to the bullpen to finish it off. Anthony Swarzak worked around a hit batter to pitch ²⁄₃ clean innings. Josh Hader also added on ²⁄₃ clean innings, adding a strikeout as well. Corey Knebel pitched the ninth for the save, and hit batter Curtis Granderson and walked to Logan Forsythe to put two runners on base. However, he limited the damage there, striking out Kyle Farmer with a full count to secure the series win.

The win allows the Brewers to return to Miller Park with a 5-4 winning road trip. The end of that came under tough circumstances, as the Dodgers had not lost a series since June:

The Cubs lost today, so the Brewers picked up a game in the division standings and are now two back. Colorado won as well, so the Brewers remain 3.5 games back in the Wild Card standings.

It’s back to Miller Park now as the Brewers get their next six at home following an off-day. First up is a quick two-game series against the Cardinals. Luke Weaver faces Matt Garza in the first game of the series. First pitch is at 6:40 pm on Tuesday.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.