Milwaukee’s bullpen has been the quiet engine of its postseason run, and Game 3 showed why. After Robert Gasser threw six scoreless innings while facing the minimum 18 batters, Antonio Senzatela retired all six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth innings, and Brandon Woodruff, appearing for the first time since July 4, closed the ninth, giving up Tampa Bay’s only run. That sequence, starter to middle relief to closer, without a wobble, is how Milwaukee has won ten straight postseason games. The Brewers’ offence gets the headlines, and the eight run fifth inning in Game 3 deserved them. But a team that can hand a 10-0 lead to its bullpen and watch it close the game without drama is a team that can win in any kind of game, tight or blowout, at home or on the road.
Depth behind the stars
The bullpen’s strength is part of a larger pattern for Milwaukee: depth. The Game 3 rally was driven not by one star, but by Brice Turang, Garrett Mitchell, Cooper Pratt, Sal Frelick, David Hamilton and Jackson Chourio, each delivering a hit in a seven hit sequence with two outs. Chourio finished four for five, William Contreras went three for five, and the lineup collected 16 hits. When a team’s depth produces like that, opposing managers run out of matchups. Tampa Bay starter Freddy Peralta was charged with five runs in four and two thirds innings, reliever Cam Booser faced four batters without recording an out, and Cole Sulser could not stop the rally either. A bullpen that cannot find an out and a lineup that cannot find a run is a combination that loses series, and Tampa Bay found both in the same inning.
What Game 4 demands of the pen
Game 4 on Tuesday night will test Milwaukee’s bullpen differently. A clinching game is rarely a blowout, and the Brewers may need their relievers in high leverage innings, not in a 10-0 mop up. Senzatela’s clean seventh and eighth innings in Game 3 suggest he can handle that role, and Woodruff’s return, even in a low leverage ninth, gives manager Pat Murphy another experienced arm for the biggest moments. The Game 3 bullpen report also notes Frelick’s diving catch in the eighth, a defensive play that saved a run and preserved the shutout until the ninth. Defence, bullpen depth and a lineup without a soft spot: those are the three things that have carried Milwaukee to a 3-0 lead, and they are the three things Tampa Bay must overcome in a single night to keep its season alive.
