Adrian Houser pitches Brewers first CG shutout in 7 years, Brewers defeat Cardinals 4-0

Box Score

While other pitchers on the Brewers staff may be getting more attention this season, Adrian Houser has put together his own strong season. It was on full showcase Saturday night at American Family Field.

Houser was unhittable to start the game. To the first nine batters he faced, he started each of them off with a strike looking. He didn’t allow a baserunner until the fifth inning, when Nolan Arenado led off with a single. He recorded five strikeouts in his first four innings. It was an impressive start to the game for him, and the Brewers offense made sure it would not go to waste.

In the bottom of the first, Luis Urias started off the Brewers offense with a home run on the second pitch he saw, giving the Brewers a 1-0 lead right away.

The Brewers added two singles in the inning but couldn’t bring those runners in. The offense kept going in the second, with Lorenzo Cain leading off the inning with a walk. Rowdy Tellez then hit a single down the right field line that Dylan Carlson mishandled, allowing Cain to score and Tellez to reach second. Tellez would then score with the next batter, as Luke Maile hit a ground-rule double and the Brewers had a 3-0 lead. After Houser popped out, Urias drove in his second run of the game on a single to left that scored Maile. Urias tried to reach second but was caught, though the Brewers now had a 4-0 lead. Another single by Willy Adames ended the day for Cardinals starter Kwang Hyun Kim, who was replaced by Jake Woodford. He struck out Christian Yelich to end the inning.

After that, Woodford kept the Brewers offense in check over 5.1 innings, but Houser was just too good for the Cardinals offense to do anything. Their offense was held to a total of three singles. Houser ended up facing just two over the minimum in the game. Of the 100 pitches he threw in the game, 76 were for strikes. He finished the game with seven strikeouts, three hits allowed, and no walks. The end result: The Brewers first complete game shutout since 2014. The last complete game shutout for the Brewers was on September 24, 2014 by Kyle Lohse, a span of 1,011 games.

One bad note from the game: Willy Adames left the game in the fifth and was not running well on the field. He will be re-evaluated on Sunday but Tom Haudricourt reports he will likely need more time to heal.

The Brewers will go for the series win tomorrow afternoon at American Family Field. Corbin Burnes is closing in on 200 strikeouts as he makes the start tomorrow, facing Jon Lester of the Cardinals. First pitch is at 1:10 pm.