Freddy Peralta's dazzling start goes sour quickly in Brewers' wild-card loss to Diamondbacks
It's hard to pinpoint the precise moment the floodgates opened for Freddy Peralta and the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday in a season-ending 5-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
There was some hard contact in the fifth inning, though Alek Thomas just barely got enough when he lofted the first hit of the game over the right-field fence to pull the Diamondbacks within 2-1.
There was a walk to Geraldo Perdomo, the pesky No. 9 hitter who fell behind, 0-2, but laid off four straight up-and-away pitches to lead off the sixth. There was the broken-bat bounder down the first base line from Corbin Carroll that eluded first baseman Carlos Santana and truly set the table for the Diamondbacks' four-run rally.
The tenor of the game had completely changed for Peralta, who had retired 14 of the first 15 batters he saw in Game 2 of the wild-card series at American Family Field.
"He was so efficient in innings like two, three, and four," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "I mean, there was going to be some longer at-bats coming. They're not going to have eight-, nine-pitch innings just keep going. He had three of those, essentially.
"He left the changeup a little up on 2-0 (against Thomas), and he came back and got the next guy. In the sixth, we had our antenna up just to see what happened. You know, the ball Carroll hit, I don't know if he hit it off the end or got jammed. It took a little tricky hop on Carlos and got over his glove, and that was obviously a huge play."
Peralta lasted just one more batter, surrendering a two-run single to Ketel Marte that brought in both runners and flipped the score to a 3-2 Arizona lead. The Brewers never led again; reliever Abner Uribe allowed a single, a costly walk to backup catcher Jose Herrera and a wild pitch to make it 5-2.
"That's kind of a game, a normal game, where you expect you're cautious that third time through the lineup with good hitters up at the top," Counsell said. "They made something happen. The walk to Perdomo hurt, for sure, to lead off the inning, and they made something happen that inning."
After no-hitting Arizona through 4 ⅔ innings, Peralta was out before recording an out in the sixth, his tremendous 2023 season over.
"I think maybe my at-bat maybe changed a little bit of his flow," Thomas said. "I mean, together collectively after me, I think we definitely put together some great at-bats and ultimately took the lead. It was pretty cool to see Corbin get that double down the line and our guys drive him in. I think once we put together some great at-bats, things turned our way."
Freddy Peralta emotional after Brewers' loss to Diamondbacks
Peralta, who finished the season with a career-best 165 ⅔ innings and 210 strikeouts, is one of the few sure things going forward for the Brewers rotation, potentially under team control through 2026.
The team enters a tricky offseason with Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff, who have one year left on their contracts before free agency and could be trade candidates if the club can't reach long-term extensions. Woodruff was ruled out of the playoff series with a shoulder injury revealed before the Arizona series began, pushing Peralta from a possible Game 3 start to Game 2, and potentially adding another question mark to Woodruff's long-term future.
"It's really hard for us, because he's one of the best pitchers in the game," Peralta said of Woodruff. "Also, he's a great person. He has a great personality. So, it's hard. We need him as a pitcher and as a person too, because he's great at what he does."
There's also the matter of the manager; Counsell isn't under contract for next year and will presumably soon reveal his intention for 2024.
"Hopefully he stays," Peralta said. "We don't know anything, but hopefully we keep him, because he's great. As a person, as a manager, as everything.
"You can tell that we are very close (as a team)," the emotional Peralta added. "We're like a family, every day together. We pass most of the time together, more than a family (does). It's great. (Counsell) does a great job trying to keep us connected and feeling comfortable. I think that means a lot for me and the guys, too."
Peralta came into the game having appeared three times in the postseason for Milwaukee, with just one earned run allowed in eight innings and 12 strikeouts. He racked up five more punchouts in five innings but wound up on the hook for four earned runs Wednesday.
Despite his strong performances, Milwaukee has lost all four postseason games in which he's appeared. The Brewers are 1-9 in their last 10 playoff games.
"We just have to keep going, try to keep our heads up all the time," Peralta said. "Keep fighting for these kind of moments and try to get a championship, because we have a great group. Hopefully we can keep our whole team together. I think if we ... put everything together, one day everything is going to go different."
More: From Rollie Fingers to Brandon Woodruff, a Brewers curse of pre-playoff injuries continues
More: Nyjer Morgan relives old magic before throwing out the first pitch for the Brewers' Game 2
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers' Freddy Peralta falters in Game 2 loss to Diamondbacks
