Brewers defeat Diamondbacks three games to two.
Key stat: Milwaukee’s starting pitchers allowed eight homers in 26 2/3 innings, or a rate of 2.7 per nine innings.
Key hitters (Brewers): Ryan Braun activated his beast mode during this season, much like he did during the regular season. Braun’s line was .500/.571/.889, and he had five extra base hits in five games. Jerry Hairston Jr, who was a bench player for a majority of the year, started every game of the series over incumbent Casey McGehee and OPSed .900 in his five starts. Rickie Weeks, who defends Prince Fielder in the Brewers order, didn’t provide much of a defense for him in this series, tallying just one hit in 18 at bats.
Key pitchers (Brewers): Yovani Gallardo was the lone Brewers pitcher to get two starts, and he delivered, allowing two runs (each coming on a solo homer) in 14 innings while striking out 14 and walking three. The 7th, 8th and 9th inning relievers in Milwaukee’s bullpen (Takashi Saito, Francisco Rodriguez and John Axford) combined to allow just one run in ten innings, walking five and striking out 11. That one run almost cost them the series though, as it was allowed by Axford in game five. Starters Randy Wolf and Shaun Marcum got shelled in Arizona: they both allowed seven runs in less than five innings each.
Key hitters (Diamondbacks): rookie Paul Goldschmidt was totally awesome, despite not starting game one. He OPSed 1.339 with a pair of homers and six RBI in four games. Center fielder Chris Young was even better, with a 1.394 OPS in five games and three homers. I’d be remiss without mentioning Ryan Roberts, who homered twice in five starts. All three of those players had seven hits during the series. As for hitters on the negative side…Gerardo Parra had just one hit during the series, but it nearly gave the Diamondbacks a victory, as his game five double led to him scoring the game tying run in the ninth inning off of Axford.
Key pitchers (Diamondbacks): reliever Bryan Shaw got into four of the five games of the series, and didn’t allow a run or a hit. He walked just one batter. JJ Putz closed out the two Diamondbacks win (without a save in either), but ended up allowing the series winning run in game five.
The series could have had a different result if…game one seems to be the most divisive game of the series. What would have happened if the Diamondbacks walked Prince Fielder instead of allowing him to hit. What would have happened if Goldschmidt had started instead of Lyle Overbay? I firmly believe that if the at bats that went to Overbay in game one went to Goldschmidt, there would have been a different result.
You can’t blame…Ian Kennedy. Two of the three Diamondbacks losses came in games Kennedy started. While he was in the game, he got exactly one run of support, and the team only scored three runs overall in those two games. When you have to be perfect to win, the smallest misstep can cost your team the game. He allowed six runs in 13 innings over the two starts, but he really wasn’t awful. He got absolutely no support from his offense, unlike Joe Saunders and Josh Collmenter during the two games in Arizona.
Series MVP: Braun. He might not win the NL MVP, but he was definitely the MVP of this series. A 1.460 OPS in five games is nasty, especially in a playoff atmosphere. The face of the franchise stepped up big time.
Next up…the Brewers will face the division rival Cardinals in the NLCS, starting on Sunday. We’re going to have a preview of that series up tomorrow.
