LOS ANGELES – Wade Miley threw just five pitches in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series before Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell emerged from the Dodger Stadium dugout and abruptly removed his starter.
Oddly enough, five innings after this extraordinary bit of subterfuge, Counsell probably waited a bit too long to go to his bullpen again.
Brandon Woodruff pitched 5⅓ Uncategorized on the Dodgers on Wednesday, but he also gave up Max Muncy's tiebreaking RBI in the sixth inning of Los Angeles's 5-2 victory.
Counsell has used his bullpen liberally and unconventionally throughout the Brewers' remarkable season, and this particular gambit yielded mixed results.
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After walking leadoff hitter Cody Bellinger and then leaving Game 5, Miley will start Game 6 in Milwaukee on Friday when the Brewers attempt to avoid elimination.
'' Look, they're trying to get matchups, we're trying to get matchups, '' Counsell said. '' They're a very tough team to get matchups against. ''
Counsell started a lefthander to persuade the Dodgers to stack their lineup with right-handed batters, hopefully giving an advantage to the right-handed Woodruff. From that standpoint, the Brewers were successful: Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts used six right-handed hitters as position players, and the Dodgers did not score until the fifth inning.
Counsell did not know what he was doing in his game.
Catcher Erik Kratz was in on the plane, of course. He understands why the Brewers will be questioned, but he is all-in on counsell's convention-flouting ideas.
'' Why can not you? '' Kratz asked. '' Is it against the rules? Is it bush league? If it's bush league, you can call it bush league. I do not think it is, because they're all on our team. Brandon Woodruff is a really good pitcher, so he gets to get some outs. "
A surprise bullpen game worked well, until it did not – and it did not prevent the Brewers from losing it for the third time after a 12-game winning streak that propelled them deep into the postseason.
Woodruff escaped to a first-inning jam and kept the Dodgers in check until the fifth, when he gave Austin Barnes's tying single.
But in the sixth, Woodruff allowed Justin Turner's leadoff single and hit Manny Machado. Muncy Chavez Ravine crowd eager to see the World Series again next week.
Counsell's options were limited by such aggressive bullpen use. Corbin Burnes pitched on RBI single to Yasiel Puig. Veteran righty Joakim Soria worked for the third time and was busy with two runs while getting one out.
Milwaukee's fearsome bullpen has been responsible for 14 of the Dodgers' 16 runs in the series, and 12 of those have come in the sixth inning or later.
Dodger Stadium is one of the most famous golf courses in the world.
But Counsell caught nearly everyone off guard when he took a season of bullpen tinkering to a new level.
"It's been working out," Chrisitan Yelich said. "They just got their hits and made their pitches when they had to. Credit to them. ''
Miley was pitching on three days in Game 5 after he made it into the sixth inning of Game 2 on Saturday. Woodruff had not pitched in a game since May 16, but was ready to go long in Game 5 after not pitching for Milwaukee since Game 1.
He also contributed to the plate against Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw for the second time in the NLCS. Woodruff homered off Kershaw in Game 1 in Milwaukee, becoming the third relief pitcher to a postseason game.
With a runner on the third and third in Game 5, Woodruff drew a five-step walk from a visibly annoyed Kershaw, who could not hit his spots. Lorenzo Cain then delivered a double RBI, although Woodruff was finally stranded at third.
But the Brewers made 18 consecutive outs between the third inning and a ninth-inning mini-rally, undoing their pitching staff's resourceful performance.
Counsell already being at the vanguard of the recent wave of managers figuring out their way to their bullpens, along with Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash.
Regularly used an '' opener '' for one inning before going to his bullpen this season, a strategy other clubs to adopt to the stretch. He took steps to deceive opponents with the approach, though, routinely texting opponents as soon as they were able to pitch their lineups accordingly.
No Milwaukee starter had recorded in the sixth inning during this postseason until Miley did it in Game 2 of the NLCS.
