Peralta recovers from shaky 1st to provide much needed length

TORONTO – Freddy Peralta had to take a step back before he could move forward.

Looking for a bounce-back start after a clunky previous outing, Peralta pitched six innings of three-run ball in the Brewers’ 3-1 loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday afternoon at Rogers Centre. All of his earned runs came in the first inning, which could have signaled more trouble ahead. Instead, the right-hander locked in to put up zeros across five more frames for a quality start.

“This game is about adjustments,” said Peralta. “We saw that they were being aggressive on my fastball, so we tried to change it a little bit.”

Peralta allowed two home runs in the first, as Bo Bichette hit a fastball to center field for a solo blast and Matt Chapman sent another one the opposite way for a two-run homer.

After a tough outing against San Francisco on May 26, when Peralta allowed 10 runs (four earned) and didn’t make it out of the third inning, this looked like another potential snowball for the righty. But he made sure to put it all in the rearview mirror.

“My last game before this, it was pretty bad,” said Peralta. “And it made me feel good -- how I was able to pitch today. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the win, but we know that we can do better.”

The 26-year-old allowed just two hits after the first, striking out three Blue Jays with two walks on 85 pitches. Peralta threw his slider almost as much as the fastball, an unusual sight that illustrated his willingness to make adjustments based on what Toronto was showing. It was the type of outing that made room for the offense to step up, though the Brewers continued to struggle on that end in the loss.

Milwaukee’s hitters were the latest group to get ambushed by Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman, whose elite splitter helped him strike out 11 batters over 6 2/3 scoreless frames to continue his ace run this season.

The Brewers’ sole extra-base hit off Gausman came from the bat of No. 9 hitter Joey Wiemer, who crushed a fastball for a double with two outs in the third. The hit, which had an exit velocity of 111.9 mph, according to Statcast, was followed by a Christian Yelich walk. Owen Miller then grounded out to end the frame and leave runners on first and second.

“The split-finger has always been a good swing-and-miss pitch,” said Brewers manager Craig Counsell. “ … [Gausman] does a great job with it. He puts it in the strike zone and then it's out of the strike zone, and those are pitches you get swings on.”

The hurler on the other side wasn’t as dominant, but he certainly did his job.

Peralta’s outing had value beyond the numbers, too. His six-inning effort provided length to a rotation that’s endured plenty of early setbacks. This club will take all the stability it can get as it nurses some of its key guys back to the mound.

“You guys know that we have two very good arms out right now,” said Peralta. “And we’re expecting them to come back soon, but we also have [Julio] Teheran, who came to the team and is doing a really good job. [Adrian] Houser too, he’s pitching well. So, we just have to keep going and wait until they come back.”

Though the Brewers likely won’t get Brandon Woodruff back until after the All-Star break as he recovers from a muscle strain in his right shoulder, the team is looking to expedite Wade Miley's timetable as he returns to activities after dealing with an anterior serratus strain.

"It's going really well," Counsell said of Miley, who’s currently expected back in early July. "He feels great. We're trying to push this along with Wade, and so far all signs are good. So we'll push him as fast as it's kind of reasonable, but it's pointing in a good direction."

Counsell also had encouraging news on Eric Lauer’s recovery from a right shoulder impingement, saying during the Toronto trip that the lefty has continued to progress in his bullpen sessions and he should be ready for a rehab assignment as soon as Milwaukee wraps up the current road trip this weekend in Cincinnati.

The Brewers will get a clean slate as they head back south to face the Reds. Having Corbin Burnes on the mound should be a comforting development, too, as he’s coming off of a seven-inning, one-run outing against the Giants in which he tied his season high with eight strikeouts.