Woodruff gives Brewers win over Diamondbacks with a little help from Uribe
Brewers starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff sailed through five innings but gave up 5 runs in the 6th. Abner Uribe powered through the 9th to secure a 7-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
TORONTO – Welcome back, Jackson Chourio.
In his first game back after 28 games on the injured list he slugged a go-ahead home run to open the ninth inning, and Christian Yelich followed him with a homer of his own one pitch later to propel the Milwaukee Brewers to an eventual 4-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Saturday afternoon, Aug. 30.
“Amazing day,” said manager Pat Murphy. “Makes you realize what kind of talent the kid (Chourio) has.”
Chourio, who had been sidelined with a strained right hamstring, was robbed of a homer in his first at-bat of the game in the opening inning when Myles Straw pulled his drive to center back from the top of the wall.
Chourio also singled in what had been a pitchers’ duel up to the decisive frame with starter Quinn Priester throwing six strong innings opposite Toronto’s Kevin Gausman, who was equally effective in his seven innings.
Chourio and Yelich each recorded two-hit games to pace a nine-hit attack for Milwaukee, which has won 21 games in the month of August for just the third time in franchise history (1978 and 2011) and lowered its magic number for clinching a postseason berth to 10 games.
“We’re playing together,” said Murphy. “We’re still learning each other, you know? We’re still learning what we can and can’t do. Revolving door with all the injuries we’ve had this year, and somebody else steps up.”
The game flips quickly
Chourio homered on Hoffman’s third offering, a slider that was actually on the outer fringe of the plate which he drove to right 361 feet.
“Truthfully, I was looking for that breaking ball right there,” said Chourio. “Thanks to God I was able to make good, hard contact and put the team in front.”
Quipped Murphy: “Everybody was so worried about the strikeouts (at Class AAA Nashville). Whitney Houston showed up today. It was a big event. They usually sing better.”
Hoffman’s next pitch was a 96.4-mph fastball down and away from Yelich, and like Chourio, he went with the pitch and sent his homer 390 feet out to left. It was the sixth time the Brewers have gone deep in consecutive at-bats and first time since Chourio and Brice Turang did so on July 13 against Washington.
Two batters later, Sal Frelick drew a walk. He advanced to second on an Andrew Vaughn groundout and came in to score when Isaac Collins doubled to center.
That led to Hoffman being pulled to a chorus of boos from the sellout crowd.
Abner Uribe closed the game out, earning his fourth save in the process.
Brice Turang miscue proves costly
A swinging bunt by Straw left him safe at first to start the bottom of the sixth.
Priester responded by inducing what should have been a no-doubt, double-play grounder to shortstop but Turang made a wild relay throw to first that drew Andrew Vaughn off the bag.
That left George Springer at second, and he advanced to third on a single by Addison Barger. A Vladimir Guerrero sacrifice fly scored Springer, leaving Priester to finish off the inning with a strikeout of Bo Bichette.
Priester, who’d been pushed back several days from a previously scheduled start to allow a sore right wrist to calm down, scattered five hits, didn’t issue a walk and struck out three over six innings and 82 pitches.
“I think it was a smart decision,” said Priester. Milwaukee has won each of the last 16 games the right-hander has pitched. “I still would have rather pitched on schedule, but it’s a long season. I’m happy with how I pitched today and really confident about it going forward.
“Hopefully keep stacking games like today.”
The deficit didn’t last long, however.
Yelich greeted Gausman with a double down the right-field line, William Contreras advanced him to third and Frelick plated him with consecutive ground-ball outs to the right side of the infield.
“Yeli got the big double, William got him over and then Sal got him in, in typical fashion,” Murphy said. “That’s our team. We got back in the game and put pressure on them, and it just worked out.
“Proud of our guys.”
Jared Koenig struck out the side in the seventh, then Nick Mears and Aaron Ashby (3-1) combined on a scoreless eighth to set the stage for Uribe.
Some tremendous defense on both sides
Chourio’s first at-bat would have resulted in a home run in nine of 30 ballparks and had an expected batting average of .660 off the bat when he sent a drive to straightaway center.
But Straw made a leaping grab at the wall to bring it back to the delight of the sellout crowd.
“It was weird to be honest with you, because I’ve never had a homer taken away from me,” said Chourio. “It’s kind of like, ‘Ah, man.’ After the AB happened, it felt good to know I was seeing the ball well and I was comfortable.”
Andruw Monasterio then turned the tables when, with runners on second and third and two outs in the third, he made a terrific snag up the middle to glove a 106-mph rocket off the bat of Barger and threw over to first to sent a scoreless game to the fourth.
There was even more defense in the fourth, with Ty France laying out at first base to stab a shot down the line by Frelick that would have scored Chourio from second.
Instead, France flipped to a covering Gausman to cap another scoreless frame for him.
“They swing it,” Priester said. “They’re really aggressive to mistakes. Really good baseball team. But we had really good defense behind us today. Mona made an awesome play to save a couple runs.
“We played good all day long and then in the ninth, the offense came alive.”
What time is the Brewers game against the Blue Jays?
Time: 2:07 p.m. CT.
What channel is the Brewers game on today?
TV channel: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin.
Brewers record 2025
84-52 (best in the major leagues, 6.5-game lead in the National League Central Division).
Brewers lineupBrice Turang 2BJackson Chourio CFChristian Yelich DHWilliam Contreras CSal Frelick RFAndrew Vaughn 3BIsaac Collins LFCaleb Durbin 3BAndruw Monasterio SSBlue Jays lineupGeorge Springer LFAddison Barger 3BVladimir Guerrero Jr. DHBo Bichette SSAlejandro Kirk CNathan Lukes RFTy France 1BAndrés Giménez 2BMyles Straw CFBrewers schedule
Brewers at Blue Jays, Aug. 31, 12:37 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Brandon Woodruff (5-1, 3.10) vs. Toronto RHP Max Scherzer (5-2, 3.82) TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin, Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.