Brewers 4, Diamondbacks 2: Chase Anderson's solid six innings backed by three home runs

Right-hander Chase Anderson scraped off the rust of being idle for two weeks and the Milwaukee Brewers took advantage of the few mistakes made by Zack Greinke at Miller Park on Monday night.

The result was a 4-2 victory by the Brewers that kept the teams headed in opposite directions. Milwaukee won for the eighth time in 11 games and Arizona fell for the 11th time in 12 games. 

Anderson, who went on the 10-day disabled list with a stomach ailment early on the last road trip, hadn’t pitched in 15 days and it showed in the opening inning. With a runner on and one out, he walked Jake Lamb, hit Paul Goldschmidt with a pitch, then walked weak-hitting Ketel Marte (.505 OPS) to force in a run.

BOX SCORE:Brewers 4, Diamondbacks 2

ANALYSIS:Getting a lead to bullpen has been a winning script for Brewers

NOTES:Chase Anderson activated, Freddy Peralta sent back to minors

MLB:Live scoreboard, box scores, standings, statistics

Needing to get it together or risk a big inning, Anderson struck out Jarrod Dyson and retired Nick Ahmed on a fly to left to limit the damage to one run.

Travis Shaw got that run back and added one more with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the inning. With one on and two down, he hammered a 1-0 changeup from Arizona starter Greinke out to left-center for his 11th homer and fifth in his last 13 games.

After Shaw’s homer, Greinke put down nine hitters in a row, striking out five. That spell ended with two down in the fourth inning when Greinke tried to sneak a 3-0 fastball by Domingo Santana, who went the other way and deposited it in the picnic area in right field for his third homer and a 3-1 lead.

Jake Lamb shaved a run off that lead with an opposite-field home run with one down in the sixth inning, taking a 0-1 fastball out to left. It was the 11th home run of Anderson in nine starts, compared to 14 in 25 starts last season.

Anderson departed after that inning, despite throwing only 80 pitches. He allowed three hits and two runs, with three walks and three strikeouts.

Lorenzo Cain made it a two-run game again in the bottom of the inning by leading off with a long home run to left, his sixth of the season. Greinke tried to go up in the zone with a 2-2 fastball at 90 mph and didn’t get it up enough, allowing Cain to blast it.

It was the first time Greinke allowed three homers in a game at Miller Park in 28 career starts, including his 1 ½ years with the Brewers.

FIVE TAKEAWAYS

A DIFFERENT PITCHER: Greinke, 34, is not the same pitcher he was when he pitched for the Brewers in 2011 at age 27. That year, his fastball averaged 92.5 mph and he threw it 56% of the time. This season, it averaged 89 mph and he throws it 46% of the time. To compensate for that drop in velocity, he has thrown his changeup 24% of the time this season, compared to 8.5% in ’11.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW: The Brewers thought they turned a 5-6-3 double play on Arizona leadoff hitter David Peralta in the fifth inning, but he was called safe at first by umpire Angel Hernandez. The Brewers challenged the call and Peralta indeed was out, with first baseman Jesús Aguilar rewarded for doing the splits to catch the ball.

REINVENTING THE WHEEL: For some time, Counsell has referred to his pitchers as “out-getters,” not starters or relievers. Accordingly, he was not stunned to see Tampa Bay use reliever Sergio Romo in consecutive games as the first pitcher against the Los Angeles Angels over the weekend, trying to take advantage of specific matchups with a thin rotation. “I completely understand that,” Counsell said. “I understand why they did that with the Angels’ lineup. It’s a different way of saying, ‘How do we get 27 outs?’ They’re trying to figure out the best way to get 27 outs. I appreciate they are trying to answer the question a different way. I do think it presents different challenges in our league (because pitchers hit). So, it’s a more complicated question in the National League.”

A FRESH FACE: At first, it appeared the Brewers had called up a new player, and a very young one at that. But it was actually right-hander Brandon Woodruff, who shaved off his massive beard Sunday night after returning from Minnesota. “I forgot what I looked like,” said Woodruff, who had the beard for more than a year and a half. “I haven’t sent (a photo) to my mom yet. It was just an urge. It was real thick. I got kind of tired of it. I got a lot of double takes (in the clubhouse).”

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AKING A DIFFERENCE: Anderson, Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun, who is on the disabled list, will help Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity kick off their building season in a midtown neighborhood Tuesday. Seven new homes will be built on the 2100 and 2200 blocks of N. 29th St. The Brewers Community Foundation and Braun are sponsoring one of those homes. The club has been involved with Milwaukee Habitat since 2006.

RECORD

This year: 29-19

Last year: 25-23

ATTENDANCE

Monday: 27,094

This year: 654,010 (32,701 avg.)

Last year: 556,780 (27,839 avg.)

COMING UP

Tuesday: Brewers vs. Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Jhoulys Chacín (3-1, 3.63) vs. Arizona RHP Matt Koch (2-2, 4.06). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.