Quintana, Frelick impress again in 5-1 win

Quintana wins with offensive barrage behind him

Box Score

The Milwaukee Brewers won the series with a convincing 5-1 win over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday afternoon.

The most notable performance was another terrific display from starter Jose Quintana. He pitched 5 ²⁄₃ innings and only allowed one run. He struck out four batters in this game, a couple more than last time. Perhaps the best aspect of his game was that he rarely worked himself into trouble. He started the game by walking three batters in the first inning but escaped unharmed. After that, the only genuine pressure the Tigers exerted against Quintana was with a solo home run by Spencer Torkelson when the Brewers already had a comfortable lead. Otherwise, he forced weak contact by the Tigers’ bats for much of his outing.

Four relievers combined to finish the game without allowing another run. Grant Anderson earned three strikeouts to work around two baserunners, and it was Trevor Megill who finished the game in a nice bounce-back outing after he was saddled with a blown save and the loss on Saturday in Arizona.

The offense put together a solid performance as a whole, as well. It was as early as the first inning that the Brewers started getting good looks at Tigers’ starter Keider Montero. Christian Yelich and William Contreras hit back-to-back singles, but the team couldn’t convert on the opportunity.

Soon after, the Brewers made sure to get on board with an unconventional pattern. Garrett Mitchell ripped a triple down the right field foul line. Oliver Dunn — using the Brewers’ first torpedo bat — followed a few batters later with a sacrifice bunt to bring across the first run for the Brewers in the second inning.

In the next inning, Yelich and Rhys Hoskins both hit home runs to nearly the same spot over the right field wall to expand the lead to 4-0. For Yelich, he jumped on a changeup that floated over the middle of the plate.

It was the same pitch that Sal Frelick would take out of the yard in the sixth inning. Frelick’s knock was his first of the season. He’s been one of the most compelling players early on this season. He pretty much does everything except hit for power, so when he has moments like this, it’s a reminder of how much of a catalyst he can be for the team in any role. He’s now batting .318 with an .863 OPS so far this season.

There weren’t many disastrous moments for the Brewers in this game, but if we’re being nitpicky, Hoskins made an error when throwing to Quintana who was covering first base. The throw was too far ahead of his pitcher, but if you’ve got back-to-back games with home runs, maybe that one can be overlooked.

The team struck out 11 times, another small point, but a notable number, nonetheless. The team as a whole has hovered around league average in strikeout rate. As some players round in to form and exhibit their usual disciplined approach, that might not linger as a concern for very long.

After an off day Thursday, the Brewers host the Athletics beginning Friday night in yet another interleague matchup. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. CT.