'Opener' experiment a success for Peralta, Crew

MILWAUKEE -- The opener gambit worked. Then the Brewers’ offense worked, too.

After a pitchers’ duel between the Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg and the Brewers’ duo of Adrian Houser and Freddy Peralta passed the seventh-inning stretch, Lorenzo Cain punched a two-out, three-run double over first base and sent Milwaukee toward a six-run inning and a 6-0 win at Miller Park.

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In addition to marking a breakthrough against Strasburg, who was so tough that three-hole hitter Mike Moustakas tried to bunt for a hit in the sixth inning, the Brewers’ fifth consecutive victory was notable in that it produced exactly the desired result for Peralta, who has always seemed to fumble in the first inning.

So, this time, the Brewers sent someone else to the mound first. Houser pitched the first two innings before Peralta took the mound.

“For me, it was good,” Peralta said. “I feel a little bit different, but [I was] coming into the moment ready to fight.”

If bullpen availabilities allow, will the Brewers do it again when it’s Peralta’s next turn to pitch?

Why not?

“We’ll just get there and see where we’re at,” manager Craig Counsell said, “but I mean, I think it went well enough that we would think about doing it again, yeah.”

Said Houser: “It feels like it worked.”

The 22-year-old Peralta’s potential was on display in an early-April pitching gem in Cincinnati, but he otherwise had slumped to an 8.31 ERA entering Tuesday that threatened to cost him a spot in the starting rotation. The primary problem was the first inning, in which Peralta had allowed 15 runs this season in his first five games.

So instead of removing him from the rotation entirely, like they did last month with Corbin Burnes, the Brewers tried a different approach by leading off with Houser, who stranded a pair of baserunners in each of his two scoreless innings. Peralta took over in the third.

Together, Houser and Peralta combined to hold Washington scoreless for seven innings on five hits and three walks with nine strikeouts -- four for Houser, five for Peralta.

“This was just to give [Peralta] kind of a different feel going into the game,” Counsell said. “I’d say what he did was he threw a ton of strikes. He threw his curveball for strikes; I felt like he had his curveball in his back pocket when he needed a strike. As much as anything, he was a lot more in the zone tonight. His fastball -- there was not necessarily a lot of strikeouts, but there was lots of swing and miss to get him into good counts.”

Peralta indicated the adjustment was more mental than a matter of mechanics or altering his pre-start schedule.

“They put me in a situation for my confidence,” he said. “If they need to do that again … it’s not a problem. If they want me to do that again, I’m ready for it.”

The Brewers still needed some offense for the thing to really work. And when Peralta’s spot in the order came around with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning, Counsell went for it.

Pinch-hitter Eric Thames struck out, but Cain followed with a first-pitch double for a 3-0 lead and ended Strasburg’s outing. Two Nationals relievers and three more Brewers runs followed as Milwaukee sent 12 men to the plate in all, including seven with two outs.

“I'm glad I was able to come through with a big knock there and open the floodgates,” said Cain. “It hasn't been easy. This first month and a half hasn't been easy. We've been facing good teams with good pitchers. [Ryan Braun] and I talk about it all the time; the older we get, the pitchers continue to get better and better.”

The tough matchup was nothing new. In a 12-game span over the past two weeks, since the start of a series at Citi Field against the Mets, the Brewers’ opponents have included notable National League starters Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, German Marquez, Jon Gray, Zack Wheeler, Max Scherzer and Strasburg.

Milwaukee has won nine of its 12 games in that stretch to move six games over .500, matching a season high.

“Scherzer and Strasburg threw two really good games,” said Counsell. “Really, this is about us pitching well on the other side and giving ourselves a chance in these games. Adrian and Freddy kind of matched Strasburg tonight, and that gave us a chance."