Woodruff great on mound, adds big hit, Brewers beat D-backs

PHOENIX (AP) — Brandon Woodruff threw seven dominant innings and also had an RBI single at the plate, leading the Milwaukee Brewers over the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 on Wednesday.

The hard-throwing Woodruff (6-3) continued his excellent season, giving up just three hits and one run. He walked two, struck out nine and also had a single in the fifth inning that scored Jace Peterson to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead.

Woodruff has been one of the best pitchers in the big leagues this season, giving up just 51 hits in 95 innings. His ERA improved to 1.89. The 28-year-old overpowered many of the D-backs batters with fastballs and hard sinkers that were consistently around 95 to 98 mph.

Josh Hader worked a scoreless ninth for his 19th save.

Milwaukee pushed into sole possession of first place in the NL Central with a 42-33 record, one-half game in front of the Chicago Cubs.

The Diamondbacks have dropped 19 of their last 20 games and 42 of their past 48. Their record fell to 21-55 and they’re on pace to lose more than 115 times this season.

Left-hander Caleb Smith (2-3) took the loss despite a good outing, giving up just one run over six innings. He gave up four hits, walked four and struck out six. He's been one of the team's better pitchers since re-joining the rotation, giving up eight runs over 26 1/3 innings over five starts.

Christian Walker and Eduardo Escobar both hit solo homers for the D-backs. Escobar's was his 16th of the season and the first of his career as a pinch-hitter. It was a no-doubter into the right-center seats and cut Milwaukee's lead to 3-2 in the eighth.

HIURA RETURNS

Keston Hiura was called up from Triple-A Nashville to replace Daniel Vogelbach, who went on the 10-day injured list with a strained hamstring suffered on Tuesday.

Hiura was in the...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Woodruff-great-on-mound-adds-big-hit-Brewers-16269823.php