Bulldog approach suits Renfroe, Crew well against Rox

MILWAUKEE -- On a Saturday night that felt more suitable for Starkville, Miss., rather than Wisconsin, it stands to reason that a couple of Mississippi State Bulldogs led the way for the Brewers in a 9-4 victory over the Rockies at American Family Field.

Right-handed starter Brandon Woodruff struck out eight over six innings of one-run ball, while his former college teammate and longtime friend Hunter Renfroe got the offense going with his second home run in as many games.

"It was hot," Renfroe said. "Good gosh it was hot, but we pulled it out. It was fun."

Woodruff set the tone early. After yielding a first-inning RBI single to Brendan Rodgers, Woodruff retired 10 in a row before Randal Grichuk’s leadoff single in the top of the fifth.

"Woody was just really good," manager Craig Counsell said. "I thought he got himself through that sixth inning and pitched. And that’s how you put up zeros."

In between those base hits, Renfroe staked Woodruff to a lead with a three-run blast in the fourth off Rockies starter José Ureña, who to that point had leaned almost exclusively on a nasty sinker.

"He had some good stuff tonight," Renfroe said of Ureña, who posted a 3.52 ERA in four appearances for the Brewers earlier this season. "He was throwing in the upper 90s and had a good sinker going. Honestly, he pretty much pitched the entire game with just one pitch so you have to tip your cap to him for how good it was.

“He was keeping the ball down. He was keeping the ball in the strike zone and making us swing that bat. Anytime you do that, you have a chance to win. The pitch he threw me was a good pitch, but I was able to get underneath it."

With the lead in hand, Woodruff cruised through his final two innings. But before Milwaukee's bullpen took over, the offense blew the game wide open with a five-run sixth. And once again, Renfroe was right in the middle of it all.

This time, though, Renfroe didn't blast a ball out of the yard; instead, he pounded a slider into the dirt right at third baseman Ryan McMahon, whose throw to first was just a shade too late to catch the hard-charging Renfroe.

"[Rockies reliever Jhoulys] Chacín threw a good pitch there, a cutter down and away, and I was able to just pound it into the ground and leg it out," said Renfroe, who eventually scored on a wild pitch. "When I'm up there at bat, I'll do that quite a little bit because guys play so deep at third base -- he's almost in the outfield -- that I can leg those out. More than anything, I was trying to get to first base, get [catcher Victor Caratini] up and score some more runs."

The infield single loaded the bases with one out for Caratini, who followed with a two-run double and the Brewers were off to the races. They scored five runs in the inning to take an 8-1 lead.

"That’s what power does for your lineup," Counsell said. "He’s been in a position the last couple of nights where you put a man on base and those are game-changing hits. He’s capable of that every time he steps up there.

“He’s going to hit homers. When you put men on base, they’re game-changers."