Breaking down the Brewers’ big-league extension for Cooper Pratt
On the ‘Microbrew’ podcast, Curt Hogg and JR Radcliffe discuss the surprising nature of the Cooper Pratt extension.
- The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Boston Red Sox 8-6 in a chaotic game at Fenway Park.
- Tensions flared after Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch from Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff.
- Garrett Mitchell’s two-run single in the eighth inning broke a tie and secured the win for Milwaukee.
BOSTON – First, tempers flared. Then Garrett Mitchell‘s single did.
A night that began with another quarrel between longtime National League Central foe Willson Contreras and the Milwaukee Brewers ended with an 8-6 victory for the visitors April 6 at Fenway Park, with Mitchell’s go-ahead knock in the eighth serving as the difference.
From start to finish, disorder reigned on a chilly night in front of a largely disgruntled 35,097 given the Red Sox’ 2-8 start to the season. The Brewers (8-2) clogged the bases all evening, tallying 11 hits and eight walks, and often took advantage of Boston’s myriad defensive blunders. And between the bloop hits and infield bleeders falling for both sides was some drama.
Contreras, following a hit-by-pitch in the third inning, had strong words for Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff, emotion that carried over onto the basepaths with an aggressive slide into second base shortly thereafter.
The Brewers, though, erased deficits twice, rallying from 3-0 in the third and 5-4 an inning later before Mitchell’s two-out, two-run flick broke the tie and drove in the winning run.
Contreras, for his part, did his due after the drama early. He finished the night 3 for 3 and reached base safely in all five plate appearances, including a mammoth blast to the top of the Green Monster seats that he capped by staring down the Milwaukee dugout.
But Angel Zerpa stranded the tying run at the plate in the ninth for his first career save, getting Trevor Story to ground out to Brice Turang, who made a wide-ranging play, at second.
Garrett Mitchell’s hit, Christian Yelich’s slide deliver in the clutch
It had been a tough night at the plate for Mitchell when he dug into the box with two out in the eighth inning. To that point, Mitchell had struck out three times, leaving four on base, to go along with an excuse-me infield hit.
On a 2-1 changeup down from Garrett Whitlock, Mitchell reached out and poked it to left, bringing Brice Turang home to give the Brewers a 6-5 lead.
Yelich took it from there.
With Roman Anthony’s wayward throw home reaching the backstop, Yelich never slowed down rounding third and beat the tag from Whitlock at the plate with a deft slide to add an insurance run.
The rally, fueled by walks by both Turang and Yelich, was the first time Whitlock had been scored upon in 14 outings.
Inability to put hitters away haunted Brandon Woodruff
Woodruff’s first whiff on a four or two-seam fastball came on his final pitch of the fourth inning and 79th of the night, after the Red Sox had already scratched back two runs to go up, 5-4.
Weak contact was ultimately was burned Woodruff again, with a second RBI bloop double to right plating a run to give Boston the lead. Boston’s other big hit in the inning, Caleb Durbin’s leadoff double, was a 91 mph pop that had a .010 expected batting average but caromed off the Green Monster after Blake Perkins opted to play it on the bounce rather than attack.
Woodruff’s first fastball whiff struck out Wilyer Abreu to end the frame. He had gone primarily to changeups because of the inability to generate swing and miss.
To Woodruff’s credit, though, he buckled down and got through 5 2/3 innings before turning the ball over to Aaron Ashby, Grant Anderson and Zerpa for the final 10 outs.
In Brewers fashion, they take the lead in fourth
Close your eyes and envision the most Brewers inning possible.
Does it look something like infield hit, walk, sac bunt, walk, error, single, walk, walk? It probably does, doesn’t it?
That’s exactly how the Brewers turned a 3-0 deficit into a lead in the top of the fourth, facing 43 pitches and chasing Red Sox starter Brayan Bello from the game.
Durbin, the former Brewers third baseman, aided Milwaukee’s effort with his defense, bungling a potential inning-ending double play grounder to bring the first run home. Moments later, he was unable to glove Yelich’s grounder, though it required a diving attempt.
A perfectly-placed cue shot up the first-base line for Mitchell tied the game, then Jake Bauers drew a walk to make it a 4-3 Brewers lead.
An inning later, the Brewers pulled back even again with a quintessential small-ball effort, with David Hamilton going from first to third on an infield single and scoring on a fielder’s choice.
Willson Contreras and the Brewers get into another squabble
The beef of Contreras against the Brewers, which already had too many chapters to count, has a new entry.
A hit-by-pitch on the hand in the bottom of the third, part of a two-run rally by the Red Sox, set Contreras off as he headed toward first base. The pitch, a sinker up but only an inch or two off the plate, grazed the top of Contreras’ hand according to umpire Chris Conroy. The Brewers challenged, but the result stood.
Contreras immediately began walking toward Woodruff, taking a few steps in the direction of the mound before redirecting to first base, but shouted at the right-hander the entire time.
Two pitches later, on a fielder’s choice grounder to second, Contreras broke up the double play with a late slide into the base. The Red Sox first baseman’s cleats were high at the tail end of the slide, which shook up Hamilton and also ripped his pants around the knee.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy beckoned the umpiring crew about Contreras’ behavior, but to no avail. The only damage to come from the inning was to the Brewers, who allowed two runs to fall behind, 3-0.
Offense squanders chances in each of first three innings
The chances have been plentiful against Bello in the early going. The runs have not.
Milwaukee put two runners on in each of the first three innings but went 0 for 7 in those spots with four strikeouts. In the first, strikeouts by Mitchell and Bauers stranded runners at second and third; in the second, Blake Perkins went down looking and Turang rolled to third; to cap it off, a leadoff walk and ensuing single by Yelich were left untouched when the next three batters went down.
Bloop hit gives Sox early run
The leadoff double that started the rally for the Red Sox’ first run of the game was well-earned. The bloop hit that brought it home was of the unlucky variety for Woodruff.
An 0-2 pitch that Trevor Story popped up to shallow right fell safely in front of a charging Sal Frelick, allowing Roman Anthony to score from third with two outs in the first. Story got under a fastball at the top of the zone and blooped it at 73.4 mph and sky-high, but far enough toward the line so that Frelick, shaded toward the right-center gap, couldn’t get to it in time.
Jared Koenig to IL; Shane Drohan
The Brewers announced left-handed reliever Jared Koenig is going to the injured list with a left elbow strain.
Shane Drohan, who came over from Boston in the Caleb Durbin trade, was recalled.
What time is the Brewers game today?
Time: 5:45 p.m.
What channel is the Brewers game on today?
TV channel: Brewers.TV.
Brewers 2026 record
7-2.
Brewers lineup
- Brice Turnag 2B
- William Contreras C
- Christian Yelich DH
- Garrett Mitchell CF
- Jake Bauers 1B
- Luis Rengifo 3B
- Sal Frelick RF
- David Hamilton SS
- Blake Perkins LF
Red Sox lineup
- Roman Anthony LF
- Masataka Yoshida DH
- WIllson Contreras 1B
- Wilyer Abreu RF
- Trevor Story SS
- Marcelo Mayer 2B
- Caleb Durbin 3B
- Carlos Narvaez C
- Ceddanne Rafaela CF
Brewers schedule
Brewers at Red Sox, April 7, 5:45 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Jacob Misiorowski (1-0, 2.45) vs. Boston LHP Garrett Crochet (1-1, 3.27). TV – Brewers.TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers at Red Sox, April 8, 12:35 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Chad Patrick (1-0, 0.96) vs. Boston RHP Sonny Gray (1-0, 4.50). TV – Brewers.TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
