Milwaukee Brewers (30-19) beat Arizona Diamondbacks (25-23) 1-0 to become the first National League team to reach the 30-victory mark.
A Sacrifice Fly in the sixth inning by Domingo Santana was enough to give the Brewers home victory. Ji-Man Choi scored the run.
Otherwise the pitching staff of the Brewers shone. Starter Jhoulys Chacin pitched five shutout innings and only gave two runs and four walks (6 SO). Afterwards the bull took over and gave only one hit over four innings in total.
Matt Albers (IP, SO) was awarded victory (3-1), while Lefty Josh Hader pitched two innings (H, 2 BB) and handed the lead more or less confidently to Closer Corey Knebel (IP, BB), who finally won the save. It was Knebel’s first Save since returning from the Disabled List.
At the beginning of the ninth inning, Knebel made a 3-2-count walk, but his 99-MPH fastball, which Home Plate Umpire Angel Hernandez regarded as a ball, had almost certainly hit the inside edge of the plate against Jake Lamb. So it would have been a strikeout and not a walk.
Knebel was visibly shocked by the decision, whereupon manager Craig Counsell stormed out of the Dugout to protect his pitcher. He had a few chosen words for Hernandez and was expelled from the field. “It was more about protecting Corey. The players had a more important job than me in the situation,” Counsell explained his ejection. “I was delighted how quickly I ran out of there for a 47-year-old,” Counsell added with a smile.
Knebel agreed with his manager: “If it hadn’t been for Counsell and his incredible speed, it could have been a slightly different situation.”
The Brewers, who started the season as co-favorites in the NL Central, are now the first team of the NL to claim 30 victories. They are also two and a half (St. Louis Cardinals) and three games (Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates) ahead of their closest rivals.
All results of the night you will find in our new MLB Scoreboard.
This article was published without previous view by the Major League Baseball.