The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Atlanta Braves 2-1 in Game 1 of the National League Division Series Friday afternoon. It was a nail-biting pitchers’ duel from start to finish.
The biggest moment of the game came in the bottom of the seventh inning, when Rowdy Tellez slammed a two-run homer off Charlie Morton to put the first runs on the board.
Tellez was shocked after his home run, because he thought he had broken his bat.
“I don’t know if I broke that bat,” Tellez said postgame. “I just saw something fly of it.”
He also was more than happy with his performance. “I’m still out of breath,” Tellez said. “It was a crazy moment.”
The only other score was a solo shot by Joc Pederson off Adrian Houser in the eighth inning.
Corbin Burnes looked great on the mound for the Brewers, firing six scoreless innings on two hits and three walks while striking out six. He struggled initially in the first inning, but Tellez made an impressive double play with runners on the corners to get Jorge Soler out at home.
“They’re an aggressive offense,” Burnes said after the game. “That was kind of the key tonight was to try to play off of that.”
The Brewers are happy with the win, but they will need more firepower to win the series going forward.
Despite surrendering a solo home run, Adrian Houser looked good in two innings of relief, with one strikeout and just one hit allowed.
Charlie Morton looked almost unstoppable for the first six innings. He posted nine strikeouts while allowing two hits and a walk. However, the Brewers got to him in the seventh inning. The inning started with Morton hitting Avisaíl García with a pitch. Then Tellez stepped up to the plate, and delivered a two-run home run off Morton.
Luke Jackson and Tyler Matzek looked good for the Braves, both throwing scoreless innings while allowing only one hit each.
The Braves answered back, with Joc Pederson contributing a pinch-hit home run to cut the Brewers lead in half.
However, Brewers turned to Josh Hader to close out the game with the lead. Hader made it close, allowing runners on the corners with two outs. Ultimately, the All-Star closer was able to close it out, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out one to cap off the win.
For the Braves, Morton was fantastic despite one bad pitch leading to a home run. Joc Pederson looked good in his one plate appearance that resulted in a home run. In addition, Freddie Freeman also showed his experience and patience at the plate, drawing two walks in four plate appearances.
Braves Manager Brian Snitker hinted at an aggressive approach in the postgame press conference.
“You love to get a pitcher like that early before he gets settled in,” Snitker said. “Because they get out of an inning like that and things happen like they did.”
With that in mind, the Brewers know the offense needs to produce more against the Braves, as the Braves are more than capable of striking first and striking hard.
Game 2 is up next Saturday, and it brings another great pitching matchup. Right-hander Brandon Woodruff takes the mound for the Brewers, meanwhile southpaw Max Fried will be on the mound for the Braves. The Brewers are favorites heading into the game with Woodruff starting, with his 2.56 ERA topping Fried’s 3.04 ERA.
However, Fried has not lost since late July, and his 1.91 ERA since the All-Star break is the best in all of baseball, but Fried hasn’t faced Milwaukee yet this season. With another pitchers’ duel on the horizon, the Brewers will need to give Woodruff everything they have on offense as they try to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the series.