MILWAUKEE – Brandon Woodruff and Jesús Luzardo were both on a roll when they took the mound Monday night.
Only Woodruff could keep it going.
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Woodruff delivered Milwaukee’s first complete-game shutout since 2021, and the NL Central-leading Brewers collected a season-high 17 hits in a 12-0 blowout of the Miami Marlins.
Milwaukee’s lopsided victory came one night after the Brewers lost 4-3 at New York despite Corbin Burnes, Devin Williams and Abner Uribe holding the Yankees hitless for the first 10 innings.
“Opportunities like this just don’t come around much,” Woodruff said of his first nine-inning complete game. “Especially after the game yesterday, it wasn’t on my mind, but it was a long game and we used a lot of guys, and we played well enough to win that game yesterday and we just didn’t. So today I just wanted to go out and give my team a chance to win. Thankfully, I was able to finish it off.”
Woodruff’s only previous complete game came in a 4-2 loss to St. Louis in a seven-inning doubleheader matchup during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He recorded the Brewers’ first complete-game shutout since Adrian Houser threw a three-hitter in a 4-0 triumph over the Cardinals on Sept. 4, 2021.
Manager Craig Counsell agreed to let Woodruff (5-1) go out for the ninth, but he said the veteran right-hander couldn’t go over 105 pitches. Woodruff gave up two hits in his final inning, but Counsell let him stick around to complete the six-hitter on his 106th pitch.
“Getting out there and warming up and having those warmup pitches, my heart was just racing, to be honest,” Woodruff said. “The first couple of pitches weren’t even close, and I just talked to myself a little bit and told myself to settle down and to just try to keep making pitches. Thankfully I did a good enough job to get through it. Yeah, I was nervous, for sure.”
Woodruff’s outstanding performance came six days after he allowed two hits over seven innings in a 7-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Over his last four starts, Woodruff has yielded just three runs in 28 innings.
Luzardo (9-9) was on a similar run heading into the night, allowing two runs in 18 innings over his previous three starts. But he gave up six runs and 10 hits Monday.
Luzardo said he “just felt little out of whack mechanically.”
“I’ve just got to be better,” he said. “There’s no excuse for it.”
Milwaukee’s onslaught began right from the start. Mark Canha led off the bottom of the first with his 10th homer, sending a 2-2 changeup from Luzardo over the left-field wall.
“You point to the first at-bat,” Counsell said. “Any starting pitcher that’s been on a roll and you greet him with a leadoff home run, it knocks anybody on their heels a little bit.”
Willy Adames finished with three hits and four RBIs. Tyrone Taylor went 3 for 5 with two runs and two RBIs. Canha, William Contreras, Andruw Monasterio and Sal Frelick added two hits apiece.
The Brewers scored three runs in the third and two in the fifth against Luzardo.
Milwaukee added five more runs — four earned — off Daniel Castano in the seventh. Adames highlighted that inning by driving in three runs with a bases-loaded triple down the left-field line.
Miami fell so far behind that catcher Jacob Stallings pitched the eighth. Joey Wiemer hit an RBI double off him.
DONALDSON’S DEBUT
Josh Donaldson, the 2015 AL MVP, went 1 for 4 with an RBI single in his Brewers debut. He signed a minor-league deal with Milwaukee after he was released by the Yankees.
The base hit was Donaldson’s fifth single of the season. During Donaldson’s 33 games with the Yankees this year, 10 of his 15 hits were homers.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Marlins: RHP Sixto Sánchez is expected to work either one inning or 20 pitches in a rehabilitation appearance Tuesday for Double-A Pensacola as he attempts to come back from shoulder issues that have prevented him from pitching in the majors since 2020. Sánchez threw 25 pitches in a bullpen session Saturday.
Brewers: LF Christian Yelich missed a third straight game due to a sore lower back. ... RHP J.C. Mejía (shoulder) was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Mejía last pitched on Aug. 13.
UP NEXT
RHP Freddy Peralta (11-8, 3.89 ERA) will pitch for the Brewers and JT Chargois (1-0, 3.63 ERA) will start for the Marlins on Tuesday.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB