Woodruff's 70-Pitch Efficiency Wasted as Brewers Bullpen Surrenders Eight

Brandon Woodruff threw 70 pitches across six innings Sunday in Washington, averaging fewer than 12 per inning against the Nationals. He allowed three hits, one earned run, walked one, and struck out six. When Pat Murphy pulled him after the sixth with Milwaukee leading 3-2, Woodruff had not allowed a run in his final inning and had faced the minimum in the sixth.

The Brewers' lead was built on home run balls. Milwaukee second baseman Brice Turang hit his second homer of the season in the bottom of the third to give the Brewers a 1-0 edge. Washington answered in the top of the fourth on a solo shot by Nationals outfielder James Wood, then took a 2-1 lead on a CJ Abrams sacrifice fly to left fielder Brandon Lockridge that scored Luis García Jr. Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers tied it back at 2-2 with a fourth-inning home run to right, and Turang reclaimed the lead in the fifth with his third homer of the season to center, pushing Milwaukee to 3-2. That was the score when Woodruff walked off.

Murphy turned to Brewers reliever Abner Uribe to open the seventh with a leverage index of 1.80. Nationals outfielder Jacob Young doubled on a sharp line drive to center fielder Garrett Mitchell and advanced to third on a fielding error by Mitchell. After a pop-out and a lineout, Washington's José Tena singled on a ground ball to right fielder Sal Frelick to score Young and tie the game at three. Uribe recorded two outs but allowed both inherited runners to score, surrendering two runs in two-thirds of an inning.

Brewers reliever Angel Zerpa took over and the seventh inning finished badly. James Wood walked, and Curtis Mead singled on a line drive to center fielder Garrett Mitchell to score Tena and put Washington ahead 4-3. Brady House then singled on a line drive to right fielder Frelick, scoring Mead and extending the lead to 6-3. Zerpa got a groundout to end the inning, but the damage was done.

Milwaukee's Gary Sánchez answered in the bottom of the seventh with a three-run home run to left center, scoring Turang and William Contreras to pull the Brewers even at 6-6. But Zerpa was still pitching in the eighth, and after singles by Abrams and Jacob Young set the table, Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby came on with two runners in scoring position. Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz singled on a ground ball to center fielder Garrett Mitchell, scoring both Abrams and Young to put Washington ahead 8-6 — the play that both flipped the lead for good and produced the most damage of the night. Ashby got the next two outs, and Brewers reliever Jake Woodford worked a scoreless ninth, but Milwaukee could not answer.

The Brewers' bullpen allowed six runs on nine hits across three innings, Zerpa accounting for four of them in a combined 1.1 innings across the seventh and eighth.

Woodruff threw 70 pitches and his team led by a run when he left. Whether another inning from him — at a pace that had him well under 85 pitches through six — would have changed any of it is the question Murphy will have to sit with.