Notes: Another shaky outing in Game 2 hasn't fazed Jeremy Jeffress
If Jeremy Jeffress is unnerved by the way he’s thrown the ball so far in the postseason, he certainly isn’t showing it.
The right-hander, who was as good as it gets in the regular season en route to earning his first career all-star nod, struggled badly in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series at Miller Park.
Jeffress inherited two runners from Corbin Burnes and allowed one to score in the seventh inning, then he allowed a two-run, game-turning home run to Justin Turner in the eighth as the Milwaukee Brewers coughed up a three-run lead and lost, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon.
"I feel good, man. It’s just the nature of the game," Jeffress said. "I can’t strike everybody out. I can’t make everybody hit a ground ball. I am human. But right now I feel great.
"You’ve got to make pitches in big counts, and better results will happen."
Pitching in all five of the Brewers’ playoff games, Jeffress has been shaky in four.
He was unable to hold a 2-0 lead in Game 1 of the NL Division Series, with the Colorado Rockies coming back to tie the game with him on the mound in the ninth inning. A Mike Moustakas RBI single in the 10th took Jeffress off the hook.
Jeffress’ best outing came in Game 2 of the NLDS, when he struck out three in two shutout innings and earned his first career postseason save.
He allowed a hit and a walk in one-third inning in Game 3 at Coors Field, then allowed all three runners he inherited to score with two outs in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the NLCS on Friday on singles by Manny Machado and Matt Kemp.
Jeffress came back to strike out Yasiel Puig to escape the jam.
In Saturday's loss, Jeffress took over for Burnes with a pair on and nobody out, then gave up singles to Cody Bellinger and Joc Pederson with Bellinger's pulling Los Angeles to within 3-1.
Jeffress struck out Puig, then committed the cardinal sin of walking No. 8 hitter Austin Barnes with the bases loaded to drive in another run and make it 3-2.
Jeffress referred to the walk to Barnes as "lucky" for the hitter.
Manager Craig Counsell went back to Jeffress for the eighth, and Chris Taylor led off with an infield squibber for a single. Turner's homer came one batter later on a 2-0 pitch, sealing Milwaukee's loss.
"He just got lucky," Jeffress then said of Turner's homer. "I knew what I wanted to throw him. I just left the ball up and he got his pitch."
Counsell has maintained that Jeffress is getting hurt mostly by soft contact, other than the home run by Turner, obviously, and isn't throwing the ball that poorly.
"I think a lot of the other stuff he did today, he made some really good pitches," Counsell said. "Look, in a one-run game, you make a mistake to that kind of hitter and it's going to hurt you."
The fact remains that Jeffress has been pitching behind in the count too often -- the home run by Turner was on a 2-0 splitter. He also walked Barnes on a 3-2 curveball to force in the run in the seventh.
"You'd like to see something put in play, but he's being careful," Counsell said. "I don't have any problem with throwing a curveball right there. A strikeout has a lot of value there, too. Give Barnes credit; he laid off."
After going 8-1 with a 1.29 earned run average, WHIP of 0.99 and 15 saves in a career-high 73 appearances in the regular season, Jeffress is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA and WHIP of 2.79 in 4 2/3 innings over five appearances.
He's allowed a team-high 11 hits, and opponents are hitting him at a .458 clip.
"I can do little tweaks here and there. But if I start to try to change stuff it’ll just snowball and keep going downhill," Jeffress said when asked if he needed to change anything.
"Just trust and believe in my stuff. I’ve been doing it all year, man. There’s nothing that I need to change, honestly."
Let’s get familiar: There has been much talk that the Brewers' model of going early to their bullpen can't be sustained over a best-of-seven series. But, in the first two games, the Dodgers actually used their relief corps more.
Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts made 12 calls to the bullpen in Games 1 and 2, covering 9 2/3 innings, compared to 11 by Counsell, covering 10 1/3 innings.
"I think making their bullpen work is something you want to do," Counsell said. "But none of us have the right answer. Is it good that you face the guy? Is it good that you're making them work?
"In the end, that stuff comes down to the players have to go out there and battle each other. That's going to be the game. They obviously used a bunch of guys (seven relievers in Game 2). I think in a series like this, both teams are getting looks at the other team's bullpen."
With only seven games against Los Angeles during the regular season, Counsell said it might help Dodgers hitters to see his bullpen more, but execution is still the key to success on both sides.
“The beauty of the game is adjustments,” Counsell said. “I think when you’re talking about inter-divisional matchups and us playing the Cardinals or the Pirates or the Cubs, it’s the same thing that happens when we face teams a lot. You’re still going to go with your best guys in the right situations. That’s not going to change based on familiarity.”
Swing away, sweet Prince: It's no secret that under Counsell the Brewers do very little bunting, though few teams do in this era. Apparently, that aversion to bunting goes back to Counsell's playing days, according to former teammate Prince Fielder.
"There was one time I was thinking about bunting and he told me if I bunt, he'll punch me in the face," said Fielder, who returned to Miller Park to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 2.
Fielder was joking, or at least we thought he was. Though he left the Brewers via free agency after the 2011 season, Fielder said it didn't surprise him that Counsell would go on to manage the club.
"He helped me a lot when I was playing with him, so I can only imagine him being the (manager)," Fielder said. "I'm sure he's helping all those guys. His attitude is good for these situations, especially in tense situations. He was always calm. I think he's doing a great job."