Brewers: Mike Fiers delivers clutch start in 1-0 win at St. Louis
By Phil Watson
A day after a 17-inning marathon that ran through most of the bullpen and even involved five innings from Monday’s scheduled starting pitcher, right-hander Mike Fiers delivered a clutch outing for the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium, working six shutout innings in a 1-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
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Rookie Tyler Wagner lasted just 3.2 innings in his major-league debut Sunday at Miller Park against the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Brewers wound up burning through nine pitchers in a nearly six-hour affair that didn’t end until Martin Maldonado homered with one out in the bottom of the 17th.
David Goforth worked a third of an inning, with Neal Cotts and Corey Knebel each pitching two innings. Jonathan Broxton, Jeremy Jeffress, Francisco Rodriguez and Will Smith each worked an innings before the Brewers had to turn to Matt Garza—who was supposed to start the series opener in St. Louis—in the 13th.
Fiers was moved up a day in the rotation—the second straight start in which he had done so—and gave Milwaukee (18-34) exactly what it needed to get its second straight victory after losing seven games in a row.
Fiers (2-5) struck out six and walked two and allowed four hits.
Broxton allowed a hit in the seventh but got a huge double-play grounder to end the inning, Cotts allowed a hit and struck out one to record his only out in the eighth, Jeffress struck out two batters and gave up a hit finishing the eighth and Rodriguez survived a hit and a walk with two strikeouts in the ninth for his ninth save of the season.
“It is twice in a row where we’ve really needed something from Mike and he delivered,” manager Craig Counsell told MLB.com. “That means something to everybody in [the clubhouse] for sure. He should be proud of what he did [Monday night] for everybody.
“He kind of got us back on track and a little normalized.”
Fiers’ outing gave the Brewers the flexibility needed to get the rotation back in shape. Right-hander Tyler Cravy, called up Monday as an extra bullpen arm with Wagner being sent back down, will now make his big-league debut on Tuesday when he gets the start, meaning the rotation will be back on schedule Wednesday, when Jimmy Nelson is slated to start.
Fiers’ effort came on regular rest, but five days after he worked on short rest to replace injured Wily Peralta.
“There’s two ways of taking it,” Fiers said. “You can feel pressured on it or you can make yourself better by making better quality pitches. I think I did that [Monday] in certain situations where we needed that big pitch. I was able to make it [Monday as opposed] to games past where that one pitch hurt us.”
The Brewers got the only run of the game off left-hander Jaime Garcia (1-2) in the top of the first. Jean Segura led off with a single, moved up to second on Ryan Braun’s comebacker to the mound and scored when Carlos Gomez laced a single to left.
It was tough luck for Garcia, who gave up just one more hit over his final six innings.
But St. Louis (33-18) was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base.
The game nearly ended on video review when Rodriguez appeared to pick off Jason Heyward at second base. The call on the field was upheld and Rodriguez proceeded to get Kolten Wong to ground out to first baseman Jason Rogers for the final out.
The game also marked the return of catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who missed six weeks with a fractured toe. Lucroy went 0-for-4 in the game.
Jun 1, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Jean Segura (9) scores on a single by center fielder Carlos Gomez (not pictured) during the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
His return came at an opportune time, considering Maldonado had caught 17 innings on Sunday.
Catcher Juan Centeno was optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs to open a spot on the active roster for Lucroy.
Gomez finished 2-for-4 on the night.
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On Tuesday, Cravy will make his debut. The 25-year-old had gone 5-4 with a 4.04 ERA and 1.286 WHIP in nine starts and 49 innings at Colorado Springs, fanning 43 hitters.
He was a 17th-round pick by the Brewers out of Napa Valley College in Napa, Calif., in 2009 and spent most of last season at Double-A Huntsville, where he was 8-1 with a 1.73 ERA and 0.849 WHIP in 14 appearances, 12 of them starts, and 73 innings.
He’ll face right-hander Lance Lynn (3-4, 3.41 ERA). Lynn is 6-3 lifetime against the Brewers with a 2.78 ERA in 16 appearances, 12 of them starts, and 77.2 innings with 84 strikeouts.
He’s 1-1 against the Crew this season, getting the victory in a 4-2 win at St. Louis on April 15 and taking the loss in a 6-3 Milwaukee victory at Miller Park on April 26. He allowed seven runs and 16 hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts in 10 innings over those two starts.
Game time Tuesday is 7:15 p.m.
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