With 'clear mind,' Woodruff outduels Arrieta

Corbin Burnes may be generating more headlines, but his co-ace atop the Brewers’ pitching rotation has been every bit as formidable.

Brandon Woodruff delivered on Sunday without any drama this time, unless you count a showdown vs. Anthony Rizzo with the tying run at third base in the last of Woodruff’s six brilliant innings in a 6-0 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

• Box score

“They're both our aces,” said Brewers leadoff man Kolten Wong of Woodruff and Burnes, “but Woody's leading us and he's been doing an amazing job. When he's out there dominating the way he is, I mean, it's just so fun to understand that you've got two horses like that in your stable that can go out and compete with anybody.”

When J.P. Feyereisen, Devin Williams and Eric Yardley completed the four-hitter, the Brewers claimed their fourth series victory on the road in as many tries this season and, thanks to a weekend bounceback from a 15-run trouncing on Friday, went a perfect 3-0 in their three April series against the Cubs.

The Brewers have already shut out the Cubs three times this season. They have never done so four times in a single season, but will have some chances when the teams meet again at the end of June.

“It’s huge. They’re a really good team,” Woodruff said. “Frankly, they’ve always been one of the top teams in our division the last few years. We have to go through them if you want to win the division.”

Woodruff has proven to be a tough matchup for Chicago dating back to his seven shutout innings against the Cubs in his final start against them last season. With that outing plus three starts in 2021 -- including a tense night in Milwaukee on April 13 when Cubs reliever Ryan Tepera threw a 95 mph fastball behind Woodruff’s legs to send a message, Tepera later said, about hit batsmen -- Woodruff has allowed only one run on seven hits in his last 26 innings against the Cubs, with three walks and 34 strikeouts.

Here were the numbers on Sunday: Six innings, two hits, no runs, two walks, eight strikeouts and zero margin for error on a frustrating day for Brewers hitters against Cubs starter Jake Arrieta. The Brewers loaded the bases with nobody out in the first inning and scored only one run on Travis Shaw’s walk, then put runners at second and third in the sixth and were denied entirely.

Woodruff made it work, with Feyereisen and Williams preserving a one-run margin until the Brewers finally broke it open with five runs in the ninth and allowed Brewers manager Craig Counsell to save Josh Hader for another day. Billy McKinney, who had big hits throughout the Brewers’ 5-1 road trip while filling in for the injured Christan Yelich, started the rally with a double, and pinch-hitter Luis Urías delivered the biggest blow with a two-run single. Wong also drove in a run in the inning, capping a series in which he went 7-for-13 and scored in all three games after returning from the injured list.

“We played them tough,” Counsell said. “Most importantly, we pitched really, really well. We've had one bad day pitching for the season -- it was Friday -- but we've pitched exceptionally well and continued to do so today.”

One can understand why Burnes has generated so many clicks this season, since he carries Major League Baseball’s second-lowest ERA and 40 strikeouts versus no walks into Monday’s scheduled start at home against the Marlins.

But Woodruff has shined in his own right. With San Diego’s Joe Musgrove scheduled to pitch on Sunday night, here’s where Woodruff ranked among MLB’s qualifying pitchers after Sunday afternoon’s gem:

.131 AVG (fourth)
1.68 FIP (fourth)
1.3 fWAR (fifth)
1.55 ERA (sixth)
0.72 WHIP (sixth)
31.5 K% (13th)

With the wind blowing in off Lake Michigan on Sunday and turning fly balls like Javier Báez's second-inning fly ball into an out -- “a complete no-doubter if it wasn’t for the wind,” Woodruff said -- he pitched to the elements.

Twice, Woodruff faced pressure points. In the fourth inning, the Cubs had runners at first and second with no outs, but Woodruff struck out Rizzo and Kris Bryant and got a double play on the latter when Brewers catcher Omar Narváez threw out Ian Happ trying to steal third. In the sixth, the Cubs put the tying runner at third base for Rizzo, and Woodruff struck him out on three pitches.

“I was able to take it a pitch at a time and have a clear mind out there,” Woodruff said.

Said Counsell: “We look forward to having him out there on a day like today when if you're filling up the strike zone, you get rewarded for it. That's what he did.”

That’s impressive, considering the Cubs were seeing him for the third time in 16 days.

“Anytime when we play these guys and we go up against Woodruff or Burnes or even [Freddy] Peralta, and not to discredit their other guys, runs are going to be at a premium,” Arrieta said. “That's a credit to how good they are.”