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Milwaukee brewers could do things differently. But that's not a bad thing for baseball.(Photo: Richard Mackson, USA TODAY Sports)
MILWAUKEE – There is a playoff playoff series with two teams tied. In fact, from a pitching point of view, it is almost impossible to distinguish them.
Team A has an ERA of 2.81 and a WHIP of 1.15.
Team B has an ERA of 2.83 and 1.15 WHIP.
Team A has 52 strikeouts in 48 innings and Team B 61 in 47 2/3.
Team A conceded 16 points, as did Team B.
And if you discovered that Team A was made up of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who trotted twice with future Hall of Fame member Clayton Kershaw, with rookie recruit Walker Buehler and trusted veteran Rich Hill to start the first five games of the National League championship series?
And this Team B was the Milwaukee Brewers, who deploy as many novice pitchers to avoid misjudgements and optimize games as they do to get positive results?
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In some circles, the Brewers' approach is seen as a baseball affront: the intentional start and lift of southpaw Wade Miley after a batter in the fifth game of the NLCS was a classless crescendo for an era of analysis becoming crazy woman.
If you must, cast them as the outcasts in this clash between two of the most intelligent baseball organizations.
The numbers, however, have a different discourse: there are two quite different routes that can lead to the same destination.
Certainly, the starting pitcher as we know it is an endangered species. There are fewer and fewer than 200 throwers at the end of each season – a new low of only 13 this season – as teams avoid the third-time penalty like the flu.
Yet the Dodgers' quartet, accompanied by powerful ace Chris Sale, Justin Verlander and ALCS's Gerrit Cole, shows that the more horses you have, the more likely you are to play after the leaves leave.
The Brewers show us that there is more than one way.
As the sixth game of the NLCS approaches Friday night at Miller Park, knowing that the Dodgers need only a win to qualify for the second time in the series, consecutive, the first match of Milwaukee has been an undeniable success.
Matches 3, 4 and 5 – played without rest days – represented the challenge that the Brewers could not survive and, yes, they lost two of the three games at Dodger Stadium.
Blame it on their pitch, however, is incorrect. Jhoulys Chacin and four members of the rescue team launched a shutout in the third match. The next night, their pen was hanging on the display board, but their attack was just as helpless against the Dodgers' pen when defeated by 2-1, 13 innings.
This Herculean effort would have been bound to annihilate them for the fifth game, but after Counsell's Miley Manuever, Brandon Woodruff started a shutout in the fifth inning. Even after the Dodgers sued Woodruff and a gas pen had accumulated insurance points, the Brewers brought the score back to tie on deck in the ninth inning.
Counsell's message? Do not hate him because it works.
"The teams hit hard for the batters before taking (at the beats) in the playoffs, or after a game in the playoffs," he said at a conference call Thursday, as the series returned to Miller Park . "I do not see the difference.
"So we use a list."
Wisely.
The Red Sox, with 115 wins, are waiting in the opening game of the World Series on Tuesday night at Fenway Park. They seem unbeatable after hanging a 5.52 round and 27 shots on the excellent staff of the Astros, but they surely have an eye on this NLCS.
They may notice how the Dodgers pitchers shut down left-handed hitters Christian Yelich and Mike Moustakas – a combined total of 5 for 41 (.122) with no more success – and wonder if LA will build such an effective attack for Andrew Benintendi and Rafael Devers.
They will surely notice a rejuvenated group of Dodgers newcomers, Pedro Baez quite untouched by lesser lights like Dylan Floro and Caleb Ferguson, who managed big moments of October with aplomb.
And without a doubt, they kept an eye on how the Brewers handled their business. They had their day off Thursday, which gave the scorer – and Miley after his "start" of the first game of Game 5 – an opportunity to reset and aim for two wins and the NL pennant.
They can be harder for the eyes – and the time of play – than any other team in this playoff derby.
Just do not call them bad for baseball. Winning is never.
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