Milwaukee Brewers: 4 Big Takeaways from Game 1 Loss to L.A.

Unfortunately, the Milwaukee Brewers lost game one to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Here are four big takeaways before game two begins.

As expected, this was going to be a difficult series for the Milwaukee Brewers to win as they face the Los Angeles Dodgers, who finished the regular season 43-17. And really, the game couldn’t have gotten off to much a worse start.

In only 1.2 innings of work, Brent Suter struggled to find the strike zone and walked five batters before even recording the sixth out of the game. For some context, Suter had walked just five hitters the entire season up to that point.

However, despite being behind 3-0 early on, playoff Orlando Arcia had shown up once again, blasting a two-run home run to cut the Dodgers lead to just one. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen far too often this season, the offense would go cold, and Freddy Peralta would give up another run.

In the end, the Crew would lose 4-2 and will face elimination tonight as they go up against Clayton Kershaw. But before the first pitch is thrown, let’s take a quick look back at last night’s performance.

Oh those Brewer bats

It is well known that the Milwaukee Brewers’ offense has struggled this season. Pick an offensive category, and there is a good chance that they are near the bottom of baseball in it. A few examples include their .223 team average, which ranks 26th, their .702 OPS that ranks 24th, and the 247 total runs they’ve scored that also ranks 26th and would have likely been 27th had St. Louis played all 60 games.

However, it’s the playoffs where everyone has a clean slate and is back to batting .000. While it’s certainly a tall task to ask the Brewers to find success against this Dodgers’ pitching staff, I can’t be the only one that was holding out hope for a little magic. But we didn’t get magic, instead, just the same Brewers’ offense.

At the plate, the Crew would go 7-34 in Game 1, which comes out to a team average of .205. They struck out 15 times and walked only three, while they left eight men on base and were just 1-5 with runners in scoring position.

Truthfully, I shouldn’t be surprised. This is what they’ve done all season long. But as I said, I was holding out hope, and tonight against Kershaw, it doesn’t get any easier.

Yardley and Topa Impress

After a rough and short outing from Brent Suter, the Milwaukee Brewers needed someone from the bullpen to provide them some stability and allow the offense the opportunity to get back into the game. Well, collectively, they got 4.1 innings from Eric Yardley and Justin Topa, both of which made their postseason debuts.

Yardley faced the minimum seven batters over his 2.1 innings, not allowing a hit or a walk while striking out a pair. Topa would follow, throwing two innings, allowing one hit, one walk, but most importantly, no runs.

When it looked like the game could have very easily gotten out of control early on, Yardley and Topa kept the Brewers in it.

Playoff Orlando Arcia is a very real thing

As much as Orlando Arcia has struggled through the regular season in recent years – although it’s worth pointing out that he was solid in 2020 – playoff time is when he really shines.

Arcia is a career .244 hitter in the regular season with a .660 OPS and a forgetful OPS+ of 73. But in the playoffs, he goes from Clark Kent to Superman, batting .317 with a .943 OPS and after last night’s home run, that gives him four in the postseason, tying a Milwaukee Brewers’ franchise record with Prince Fielder.

Admittedly, his other at-bats weren’t that great, but against a tough Dodgers team, it was Arcia who produced the only runs of the game. And over his 42 career post-season plate appearances, he’s had several big moments.

Fingers crossed Ryan Bruan can go in Game 2

In my first takeaway, I highlighted how much this Milwaukee Brewers’ offense has struggled this season, and if Ryan Braun is unable to play, it only makes matters even more challenging. Which is certainly not something this group needs at the moment.

Braun exited early in the game after his back stiffness had returned. As we all know, Braun has battled back issues in the past, and recently we saw this same tightness affect him down the stretch of this season.

Like the rest of the team, Braun has struggled in 2020, slashing .233/.281/.488 with a .769 OPS and an OPS+ barely above league average at 101. However, he is still Ryan Braun, who has come through for this Brewers team in countless clutch moments and holds a career postseason batting average of .330 along with an .859 OPS.

By no means does Braun’s presence in the lineup guarantee that the offense will produce, but I certainly like the Brewers’ chances a whole lot better than if he is out. After Game 1, Manager Craig Counsell called Braun, “day to day,” so let’s keep our fingers crossed that he is good to go.