Injury woes continue to mount for Brewers as Brandon Woodruff leaves game with ankle issue in loss to Cardinals
ST. LOUIS – The Milwaukee Brewers suffered one loss on Friday night and are holding their breath they didn't suffer a second.
After throwing two warmup pitches heading into the fifth inning of his matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Friday night, Brandon Woodruff was forced from the game with what the Brewers described as right ankle discomfort.
The right-hander to that point had made one mistake that cost him, a 97-mph sinker he left over the plate that Paul Goldschmidt hit out to left in the third. That blow turned out to be the difference as the Brewers lost, 4-2.
Box score: Cardinals 4, Brewers 2
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Woodruff (5-3) scattered two hits and a walk with four strikeouts over a 61-pitch outing. Luis Perdomo replaced him and pitched two innings.
Woodruff and manager Craig Counsell indicated after the game the injury doesn't appear to be serious, and that he might even be able to make his next start.
That's good news, because with shortstop Willy Adames (ankle), right-hander Freddy Peralta (shoulder) and rightfielder Hunter Renfroe (hamstring) all having gone on the injured list in the past two weeks, the Brewers can ill afford to be without another one of their key cogs.
The third inning was as frustrating as they come for the Brewers.
In the top of the frame, they sandwiched a pair of walks around a Luis Urías single to load the bases with one out against Dakota Hudson.
That brought up Andrew McCutchen, who smoked a 101.4-mph ground ball at Nolan Arenado. He turned a 5-4-3 double play and Milwaukee had failed to cash in on a prime scoring opportunity, continuing a trend that began in San Diego.
Then in the bottom half, Harrison Bader hit a grounder toward Kolten Wong that had an expected batting average of .130 only to see Wong fail to field it.
That allowed Bader to reach, and with two outs Goldschmidt made the mistake sting by socking a two-run homer to left. It was the seventh home run Woodruff has allowed in five May starts.
McCutchen came to the plate with the bases loaded again in the fifth, this time with two outs, and he grounded out against Drew Verhagen.
The Cardinals tacked on a pair of runs in the seventh against Brent Suter and the Brewers appeared to be headed for their fifth shutout loss of the season.
But Tyrone Taylor singled and Keston Hiura homered in the ninth inning to finally get Milwaukee on the board and put St. Louis into a save situation.
Ryan Helsley then struck out Mike Brosseau and Wong grounded out.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff injures ankle, is forced from game
