With his third-inning home run, Brandon Woodruff became the latest pitcher to hit an unlikely postseason dinger
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In the third inning of Friday's NLCS Game 1 between the Brewers and Dodgers, Brewers manager Craig Counsell made a curious decision. With the pitcher's spot due up to lead off the bottom half of the inning, he brought in reliever Brandon Woodruff to pitch the top half.
Then, Counsell left him in to lead off the bottom half against Clayton Kershaw instead of calling on a pinch-hitter. Woodruff showed that to be a smart move as he sent a 2-2 fastball a long way:
Just two years ago, Travis Wood pulled off a similar feat for the Cubs in the NLDS. In Game 2 against the Giants, Wood entered the game with two outs in the top of the fourth inning. When his turn came up as the second batter in the bottom half, he went to the plate and hit a homer:
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Like Woodruff, Wood went back to the mound after hitting his home run and held the opposing team scoreless.
Of course, Wood's Cubs went on to win the 2016 World Series -- an accomplishment still very much in play for Woodruff's Brewers. If Woodruff is lucky, he'll even get a chance to follow in the footsteps of 2008 World Series champion Joe Blanton and recreate his epic World Series home run a decade later:
Hey, less likely things have happened.