ST. PETERSBURG -- Nearly an hour after the Brewers walked off the field losers for just the second time this postseason, Aaron Ashby emerged from the trainer’s room with a recovery device still attached to his body. Earlier, with fans packing Tropicana Field and the World Series reaching a crescendo, Ashby had nearly willed the Brewers to a title.
In the end, he had to settle for a postseason record and a possible future date with destiny.
With seven perfect outs Tuesday in the later stages of World Series Game 4, Ashby ran his playoff scoreless streak to 18 innings, passing Andrew Miller for the longest in a single postseason by a reliever, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. But it wasn’t enough for the Brewers, who lost in 12 innings, 4-3 to the Rays, only after Ashby departed.
“It’s one of those cool things I guess,” Ashby said of the record. “But more so, that loss stings.”
Entering to face the heart of Tampa Bay’s order in the ninth inning of a 2-2 game, Ashby ran the count full on Jonathan Aranda before freezing him on a 98.3 mph sinker at the bottom of the zone. He then induced groundouts from Junior Caminero and Liam Hicks to ensure the first extra-inning World Series contest since last year’s Game 7. After the Brewers went scoreless in the top of the 10th, Ashby returned to the mound to extend his streak another inning.
“That was a grind,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “You know you’re going through three innings of Ashby, nothing is going offensively.”
Still seemingly cruising, Ashby recorded one more out in the 11th before manager Pat Murphy, concerned about a sinker that dipped in velocity to an uncharacteristic 96 mph, finally came to get him.
“I had an idea of why he was coming out,” Ashby said. “I saw the last fastball … I knew that was probably going to be on their mind. I feel good. It’s probably just a part of throwing a lot of innings.”
Not just innings, but zeros. In addition to passing Miller for the most consecutive scoreless innings in a single postseason, Ashby became the only pitcher in playoff history to record at least five outs in seven or more consecutive scoreless appearances. No one else has more than five such games.
The longest postseason scoreless streak of any kind was 33 1/3 by Yankees closer Mariano Rivera from 1998-2000. Miller’s single-season streak was part of a run that spanned three postseasons and 24 1/3 innings, culminating in a 16-inning scoreless string for Cleveland in 2016.
“He’s on one of those runs where he just feels good, everything’s going right, and you just try to ride that out as long as you can,” said Miller, who is attending the World Series as a member of the MLBPA’s leadership team. “Right now, if he’s tired, he probably doesn’t really feel it. His mechanics, he picks up a ball, and his timing is right and he knows what he’s doing.”
Not so long ago, Ashby seemed an unlikely candidate to break Miller’s record. A starting-pitching prospect for the Brewers, Ashby struggled to find his footing before missing all of 2023 due to left shoulder surgery. A lack of success upon his return, including an 8.04 ERA with Triple-A Nashville the next season, prompted the Brewers to make him a reliever.
For the past two seasons, Ashby has thrived in that role, producing a 2.71 ERA over 118 appearances. And now, following a string of unsuccessful appearances early in his career, he has transformed into a playoff relief ace. In addition to pitching well, Ashby has been pitching often, sometimes even contributing multiple innings on consecutive nights. It has allowed him to rack up a lengthy scoreless streak over the course of this month.
In an age in which teams are increasingly relying on their bullpens, that can be harder than ever to achieve. Most relievers become less effective once opponents have seen them twice, three times, even four or five times in a seven-game series. Just not Ashby. Not this postseason, anyway.
“I feel like we’ve built a solid foundation over the course of this season to have that volume to go out every night and do that,” Ashby said. “I don’t necessarily feel tired or fatigue in the postseason. When the crowd’s in it how they are, it’s pretty easy to feel loose.”
Whether that means Ashby will return as soon as Game 5 remains to be seen. Though he has bounced back from multi-inning outings to pitch the next day three times already this month, Ashby has never done so the day after recording more than six outs. And even if his velocity drop is not a long-term concern, Ashby’s heavy usage may give Murphy pause.
That decision won’t ultimately be up to Ashby, who will go through his usual routine of catch play on Wednesday before informing Murphy whether he feels good to go. But if he says he is?
“[Murphy] has always allowed it to happen in the past,” Ashby said. “If I feel good enough tomorrow to go, I’ll certainly be ready.”