Strong outing by Woodruff propels Brewers to a 4-1 win over the Red Sox

Box Score

For the first time in eight years, the Brewers made the trip to Fenway Park.

Brewers fans seemed to have circled this trip on their calendar.

In front of a strong contingent of Brewers fans, Brandon Woodruff notched another quality start. Woodruff was able to hold the Red Sox to just one run in six innings. Good pitching and some late runs would be enough for the visitors, as the Brewers took game one over the Red Sox, 4-1.

It was a battle between two different approaches Friday night. On one end, the Brewers had a traditional starter in Brandon Woodruff. Their opposition went a different route, using Austin Davis as their “opener” before heading to the pen for the remainder of the game. Both were effective early, as the teams totaled just four baserunners through five innings. Woodruff gave up a hit to Christian Vazquez in the first and walk in the second. The combination of Davis and Brayan Bello allowed a hit to Willy Adames and a hit-by-pitch to Tyrone Taylor.

The Brewers’ offense was the first to get going in the 6th. Christian Yelich and Adames led off the inning with a double and single respectively. With men at the corners, Andrew McCutchen drove in Yelich on a sacrifice fly to make it a 1-0 ballgame. The Red Sox would counter in the bottom of the inning. With Woodruff still pitching, Vazquez and Alex Verdugo combined for back-to-back doubles to draw even at one.

Just like the Red Sox, the Brewers didn’t wait long for a counter. In the top of the seventh, Taylor followed a double play with a triple to deep center. With two outs and a man on third, Yelich gave the Brewers a 2-1 lead on a base hit to left.

The bottom half of the seventh saw the end of the night for Woodruff. Woodruff had another excellent night on the mound. The former All-Star gave the Red Sox very few chances to score, allowing just two men to reach second base. With nine punchouts, he recorded his fifth game in six appearances since coming off the injured list with eight-plus strikeouts. His 6 ¹⁄₃ innings of work are also his longest appearance of the season.

Woodruff did leave a bit of a mess for Brad Boxberger. He entered with two men on and only one out. The right-hander was able to get the job done, striking out former Brewer Jackie Bradley Jr. and getting a lineout out of Yolmer Sanchez to end the inning.

The Red Sox threatened again in the eighth with Devin Williams pitching. Williams gave up a single to Jarren Duran, a fielder's choice to Vasquez and an infield single to Verdugo to give the Sox first and second with one out again. However, just like Boxberger in the seventh, Williams got out of it, striking out Xander Bogaerts and getting J.D Martinez to ground into a fielder’s choice.

The Brewers would get some insurance runs in the ninth. A Victor Caratini walk and a Kolten Wong double gave the Brewers runs at second and third with one out. A long at-bat from Taylor first drove in Caratini on a sac fly to left. Yelich then got on with an intentional walk, setting up Adames to drive in Wong on a base hit to left that resulted in a throwing error from Verdugo. With a 4-1 lead, Josh Hader got the ball and was able to secure his 29th save of the season, giving the Brewers the 4-1 win.

These two teams are back at it again tomorrow. Eric Lauer will go up against Nick Pivetta, with first pitch at 3:10 pm CT.