Brandon Woodruff’s Masterful May

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Photo Credit: Jean-Gabriel Fernandez

Brandon Woodruff’s month of May is likely over, but it was one for the ages. Sunday’s masterful performance wrapped up a month where he worked 33 innings and allowed just five earned runs (a 1.36 ERA) while striking out 37 and walking just seven. He’s the first Brewer to work that many innings with an ERA that low in a month since CC Sabathia posted a 1.12 mark in August of 2008.

Woodruff’s Sunday performance also left him in impressive company: He worked eight innings, allowed just one run on one hit, walked none and recorded ten strikeouts in a dominant performance against the Phillies. Woodruff’s Game Score for his performance, a metric developed by sabermetric pioneer Bill James, was 86. That’s a mark Brewers pitchers have only surpassed seven times this decade. Here are the others, in ascending order:

7. Kyle Lohse vs Chicago, 6/1/2014, Game Score of 87

A model of efficiency, Lohse worked a complete game shutout against the Cubs to open June of 2014 on just 93 pitches, allowing just three singles and recording six strikeouts without allowing a walk. He induced a pair of double plays and only allowed the Cubs two plate appearances with runners in scoring position.

A complete game shutout where a pitcher throws fewer than 100 pitches has come to be known as a “Maddux,” after Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. This game was the 12th Maddux by a Brewer since pitch counts became an official statistic in the late 1980’s, and no Milwaukee pitcher has repeated the feat since.

6. Kyle Lohse at Atlanta, 9/25/13, Game Score of 88

In the game above, Lohse became the first Brewers pitcher to record a Maddux since he himself did it the previous September. Lohse was even more efficient in this outing, working nine scoreless innings while allowing just two hits and recording five strikeouts. He navigated through 27 outs while facing just 29 batters and throwing 89 pitches.

The only two hits Lohse allowed in this outing were both singles, and one came on a bunt. The Braves did not have a single official at-bat in the game with a runner on second or third base.

5. Yovani Gallardo vs Minnesota, 6/24/2010, Game Score of 89

The single best performance of Yovani Gallardo’s Brewers career, at least by this metric, came in a Thursday matinee at Miller Park. Gallardo worked a complete game shutout and carried a perfect game into the sixth inning, finishing with five hits allowed and 12 strikeouts with no walks. He threw 122 pitches to complete the gem.

Gallardo’s Game Score also does not reflect his contributions with the bat in this game. He went two-for-four with a double and scored two of the Brewers’ five runs to help power his team to victory.

4. Zack Greinke vs Cincinnati, 5/9/2012, Game Score of 89

The best single-game performance of Zack Greinke’s Milwaukee tenure didn’t have the ending one might have hoped for. He stymied Reds batters across eight shutout innings, allowing just two hits (including a double) and striking out eleven without walking a batter. Johnny Cueto and Aroldis Chapman also held the Brewers scoreless across eight innings, however, so Greinke was removed for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the eighth and received a no-decision for his efforts.

John Axford followed Greinke to the mound and allowed a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to give the Reds an advantage. Ryan Braun closed the gap with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning but the Brewers lost 2-1. Greinke’s 89 Game Score was the best outing in a Brewers loss since Teddy Higuera posted a 90 in 1988.

3. Kyle Lohse at Cincinnati, 9/24/2014, Game Score of 89

Lohse’s third and final appearance on this list looks a lot like the others: In a late-season game at Great American Ball Park, he limited the Reds to a pair of singles across nine scoreless innings, striking out six and walking just one. The Reds had a runner reach second base just one time in the game, when Cincinnati pitcher Daniel Corcino bunted a runner over.

Lohse also helped his own cause at the plate, driving in a run with a sac fly in the eighth inning to plate the final run in a 5-0 Brewers victory.

2. Freddy Peralta at Cincinnati, 4/3/2019, Game Score of 89

Woodruff’s remarkable outing on Sunday was only the second best single-game performance by a Brewers pitcher this season. Peralta rebounded from a 2019 debut where he lasted just three innings by dominating the Reds through most of a matinee at Great American Ball Park, working eight scoreless frames and allowing just two hits, striking out eleven and walking none.

Peralta allowed a leadoff single to Eugenio Suarez to open the bottom of the second inning before retiring 20 consecutive batters in order, keeping the Reds off base until a two-out single in the eighth. He did all of this while protecting the slimmest of margins: The Brewers went on to win the game 1-0.

1. Matt Garza at Cincinnati, 7/5/2014, Game Score of 90

On the afternoon after Independence Day in Cincinnati, Matt Garza stifled the Reds’ fireworks. Aramis Ramirez got his longtime teammate a single run with an RBI single in the top of the first inning and that was all Garza needed, as he worked a complete game shutout with just two hits, two walks and nine strikeouts. He took a perfect game into the fifth inning in the contest, which the Brewers went on to win 1-0.

All told, the last four Brewers to post a Game Score of 89 or better have all done it against the Reds.