Rowdy Tellez had not seen his name etched into the starting lineup against left-handed pitchers much this season, but there it was lodged into the No. 7 spot in Craig Counsell’s order when he strolled into the Milwaukee Brewers clubhouse Friday afternoon.
Ahead of a series in which the visiting Los Angeles Angels had lefties slated to start all three games, Tellez would figure to get some of his first chances to face them this year.
He came through.
As part of a night where he reached base safely three times while only facing southpaws, Tellez lined the go-ahead single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning off Angels reliever Aaron Loup. The hit gave the Brewers a 2-1 lead that Devin Williams protected with a perfect ninth inning, making good on a sharp Wade Miley start and overall exquisite pitching against a Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani-led lineup.
Loup has paved a career of getting left-handed hitters out and had a chance to help the Angels escape the game’s pivotal moment by doing so once again. Instead, though, Tellez stayed squared at the plate against the southpaw and drilled a 1-0 sinker through the right side to score William Contreras and put Milwaukee up, 2-1.
“He had a good night tonight for sure,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said of Tellez. “That at bat against Loup in the 8th, that guy has made a really good career of getting lefties out, so that’s a tough at-bat and an impressive at-bat.”
There wasn’t much offense until that point as dueling lefties Wade Miley and Tyler Anderson exchanged zeroes most of the night.
The Brewers, who entered with the fourth-worst batting average and second-worst wRC+ against left-handed pitchers this season, struggled against Anderson. Willy Adames got to Anderson for a solo homer in the first inning but that would be it over 6 2/3 innings against Anderson, who scattered five hits and three walks thanks in large part to a nasty changeup the Brewers could barely touch.
Milwaukee had two more scoring chances against Anderson but didn’t come through either time. It loaded the bases with two outs in the second, but that time the Angels lefty got the best of Adames, striking him out. In the fourth, a groundout and strikeout after consecutive one-out singles ended the final scoring threat on Anderson.
Miley matched Anderson over six innings, allowing one run during a two-out rally in the fourth, but once again did a superb job of limiting the damage. Miley lowered his season ERA to 1.86, the lowest of his career through five starts.
“The quality of his appearances have been tough to beat,” Counsell said. “He’s been good. He’s given us a chance every single time. He’s been dominant a couple of times. He’s been efficient to get us deeper into games. There’s a lot of good stuff coming from Wade.”
Peter Strzelecki got through as heavy of a challenge that can be asked of a reliever: facing the top of an Angels lineup that includes Trout and Ohtani in a tie game in the eight. Mike Brosseau’s throwing at third base on a routine Taylor Ward grounder to lead off the inning put Strzelecki in a tough spot, and Ohtani’s one-out single up the middle to put men on the corners made it even more challenging.
But Strzelecki buckled down, made a pitch that got in on Anthony Rendon’s hands that led to a pop out for the inning’s second out, then escaped the jam when Luke Voit made a deft pick on another wide throw from Brosseau after fielding Hunter Renfroe’s slow grounder .
“Luke being able to hold the bag, great play,” Miley said. “Bross comes running in, has to get rid of it, throws a little wide and for Luke to sit on the bag there, that’s the end of the game. Who knows what happens if they score a run there.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wade Miley shuts down Trout, Ohtani and the Angels as the Brewers win