Consolation for the Brewers

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Photo via Twitter / Brewers

The Brewers struggled to score runs on Sunday Night Baseball this week, but at least they can take away two bits of consolation:

• They still won the series against one of baseball’s best teams, and
• Barring an unlikely transaction or a trip to the World Series, they likely won’t face Lance Lynn again until 2022.

Lynn is one of just 134 pitchers who have amassed at least 100 innings pitched against the Brewers during their careers, but he’s been one of the most successful among that group: As noted during the ESPN broadcast, his 2.16 ERA against Milwaukee is the lowest ever for a pitcher that meets that qualification.

Before Sunday night Lynn had not faced the Brewers since 2017 but picked up right where he left off on the national stage, holding the Brewers to one run across six innings in what would eventually be a 3-1 White Sox victory. This was Lynn’s fifth consecutive outing allowing one run or less and lowered his ERA to an MLB-best 1.91.

Players’ career numbers against teams have very little predictive value, of course. The Brewers have turned over all but a few members of their roster since facing Lynn for the last time in 2017, so it’s unlikely that Lynn’s past success against this franchise had any carryover effect to Sunday night. Nonetheless, Lynn’s repeated ability to keep the Brewers off the board has to be frustrating for players and fans. Here are a few other pitchers who have had the franchise’s number over the years:

Roger Clemens

Before Lance Lynn claimed the aforementioned record with a 2.16 ERA against the Brewers, former Red Sox ace Roger Clemens held it for a long time and in a much larger sample size. Across his 23 MLB seasons Clemens faced the Brewers 40 times and had a 2.25 ERA in those outings. His 291 strikeouts against the Brewers are still the second-most by an opposing pitcher. Over a span of ten seasons from 1986-97 the Brewers faced Clemens more often than any other starter (215 1/3 innings) and he held them to a 1.80 ERA.

Clemens was also on the other side for one of the best pitching debuts in Brewers franchise history. On July 28, 1997 “The Rocket,” then a member of the Blue Jays, pitched a complete game against the Brewers and allowed just one run on four hits but was outdueled by rookie Steve Woodard. Woodard pitched eight innings, allowed just one hit and recorded 12 strikeouts in the performance. Clemens got the last laugh, however, continuing on to win the American League Cy Young Award.

Bert Blyleven

A longtime American League pitcher in the pre-interleague play era, future Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven had a lot of opportunities to face the Brewers: He pitched 394 2/3 innings against Milwaukee across his 22 MLB seasons. To put that number in context, only 50 pitchers in franchise history have thrown more innings for the Brewers than Blyleven did against them.

Blyleven pitched 52 games in his career against the Brewers and completed 21 of them, including nine complete game shutouts. He recorded 312 strikeouts in those games, the most ever against the Brewers, and posted a 2.83 ERA that was half a run better than his overall career mark. He pitched 15 or more innings against the Brewers in 16 of his 22 seasons. He also faced Robin Yount 114 times in his career and largely kept the greatest Brewer of all time off the board, holding him to a .182 batting average with a .211 on-base and .300 slugging.

Adam Wainwright

In recent years the only pitcher to eclipse Lance Lynn’s recent success against the Brewers might be one of his longtime teammates. Since his debut in 2005 Adam Wainwright has faced Milwaukee 45 times, including 38 starts, and has a 2.48 ERA across those appearances.  He’s struck out 236 Brewers in his career, the fifth-most ever for an opposing pitcher.

Wainwright, who pitched five innings and allowed one run against the Brewers on April 8 of this season, has faced them at least once in each of his 16 MLB campaigns. The Cardinals have seven games remaining in Milwaukee this season and if he pitches in any of them he’ll claim another record: His 17 starts at Miller Park/American Family Field currently have him tied with former Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano for the most by a visiting pitcher.