Brewers end stunning three-year starting pitching streak
On Friday night in Seattle, the Milwaukee Brewers finally threw a curveball at an opponent. For the first time since Aug. 28, 2013, the Brewers trotted out a left-handed starter, ending a string of 474 consecutive games that were started by right-handers.
The southpaw of the hour was 26-year-old Brent Suter. Ironically, Suter has a small connection to Mariners icon Ken Griffey Jr., as both attended Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati. But that tidbit paled in comparison to the realization of a dream that played out at Safeco Field.
[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now]
Suter was taking the turn of Junior Guerra, who recently landed on the DL with elbow inflammation. For most of the season, Guerra has been Milwaukee’s most effective pitcher, so those are no small shoes to fill.
Unfortunately, poor command, perhaps fueled by nerves, was an issue early. Suter walked three batters in the first three innings, in addition to committing a throwing error on a pickoff. He didn’t allow a hit though until Kyle Seager homered in the fourth inning. The outing went downhill from there as Seattle knocked Suter from the game with a three-run fifth.
Seattle went on to win the game 7-6, handing Suter a loss in the process.
Previous to Suter’s outing, the last lefty to get a start for Milwaukee was Tom Gorzelanny against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Gorzelanny allowed four runs on nine hits over 5 1/3 innings. Like Suter, that was not good enough to get the win. That means we have to go back to Aug. 10, 2013 to find the last win by a Brewers left-handed starter.
Here’s some irony. That game was started by Gorzelanny, and it came at Safeco Field in Seattle. Prior to this weekend, that’s the last time Milwaukee had visited Seattle. Sometimes baseball has a funny way of bringing things full circle, though obviously Milwaukee hopes to get a left-handed starter a win before their next trip to the northwest. Whenever that may be.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
– – – – – – –
Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!