The Milwaukee Brewers put on another dominant display Thursday afternoon in battering the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Milwaukee Brewers routed the Arizona Diamondbacks again on Thursday, 13-1, in a game where defense and offense were at a high level.
Thursday’s victory secured the series for the Brewers after they outscored the Diamondbacks 26-3 in two of the three games, and there were various moments and contributions that made up the matinee contest. Let's break them down.
Brandon Woodruff Raises Concerns
Taking the bump for the Brewers on Thursday was right-hander Brandon Woodruff.
The 33-year-old was making his sixth start of the season, and so far, he had been good. Early in the 2026 campaign, Woodruff has a 2-1 record with a 3.60 ERA, and his health has remained intact, but Thursday’s outing proved to be troubling.
After giving up a leadoff walk, Woodruff managed to strikeout two batters and force Corbin Carroll into a popup, but during the second inning, his day would end up getting cut short after a dramatic drop in velocity in which his fastball failed to reach 87 mph after it had been averaging 92.5 mph during the season.
In the third inning, Brewers manager Pat Murphy clarified what happened to Brewers.TV reporter Sophia Minnaert.
“He said he felt kind of dead," Murphy told Minnaert. "He didn’t feel any pain, just that nothing was coming out. We’ve seen a little of this, but not at this level where he can’t get the ball over 85 mph.
“He’s so important to us," Murphy added. "We’re not going to risk anything long term by having him try to step on it. He’s going through this process, and hopefully he’ll be okay and will work himself into his form."
Woodruff logged two strikeouts and allowed one walk and one hit through 1 ⅓ innings.
Party at the Plate
While early struggles lead to Woodruff's exit, Milwaukee's offense caught fire quickly and did not look back.
The Brewers got on the board thanks to doubles by William Contreras and Luis Rengifo in the bottom of the first that got three runs across the plate and made Arizona right-hander Michael Soroka pay immediately.
In the bottom of the third inning, the Brewers’ offense continued to make things hard on Soroka by tacking on three more runs thanks to a two-run blast by Contreras and an RBI groundout by Rengifo to make it a 6-0 game.
After giving up two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, Soroka’s day was over after he allowed 10 hits, eight earned runs, and two walks over three innings. However, Milwaukee’s offense was not done producing.
The Brewers would go on to score five more runs: Three in the sixth inning, one in the seventh, and one in the eighth to make it a 13-1 game. Contreras was the catalyst, going 4-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs and falling a triple short of reaching the cycle.
Sal Frelick also hit his second home run in three games, and Milwaukee’s offense showed what it was capable of yet again without the services of Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn, who are all recovering from injuries.
Bullpen Backup
Given the short nature of Woodruff’s outing, the Brewers were compelled to lean on their bullpen, and it did not disappoint.
Five relievers took the mound after Woodruff, and they combined to strike out 11 batters while only allowing five hits, one walk and one earned run. The five hits and the earned run came off Shane Drohan, but the positive aspects of his performance outweighed the minor blemishes as he led the reliever unit with four strikeouts and four innings pitched.
Trevor Megill took the mound after Drohan and logged one strike out while not allowing a hit, a walk, or an earned run over one inning of work. According to Hunter Baumgardt of Fox Sports 920, Megill has now gone six straight innings without allowing a run.
In that stretch, he has notched eight strikeouts while giving up just two hits and one walk.
After improving to 16-14 with Thursday’s win, the Brewers will now travel to Washington to open up a three-game series against the Nationals. Milwaukee hosted Washington from April 10-12 in which it was swept by the Nationals.
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