Woodruff leaves – Brandon Woodruff’s velocity dipped in the fourth, and after a trainer visit he walked off the mound—ending his start early in a 3-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix. Milwaukee did get a 418-foot home run from Christian Yelich, but the Brewers couldn
For the third time in recent weeks, a start that looked routine turned into something the Milwaukee Brewers didn’t want to see. Brandon Woodruff’s velocity dipped in the fourth inning, the trainer came out, and Woodruff walked off the mound with the game still hanging in the balance.
He hadn’t looked finished, either—right up until it suddenly was. After throwing four straight changeups between 73 and 75 mph in the fourth, Woodruff’s night ended early, and Milwaukee was forced into damage control.
The timing mattered. The Brewers had already chased trouble through the first inning. Woodruff was hit by a sequence of early issues—Corbin Carroll reached after four uncompetitive misses. Gabriel Moreno capitalized on too many pitches over the plate with a single to center. and Adrian Del Castillo. a .182 hitter coming in. crushed a first-pitch. three-run homer to right.
Milwaukee’s response came later, but it came with tension attached. Christian Yelich finally delivered with a runner in scoring position, launching a 418-foot homer after Brice Turang’s leadoff double pulled the Brewers within 3-2.
Garrett Mitchell nearly followed right away. After Yelich’s blast. Mitchell launched a two-run effort of his own—this time a 421-foot double to the cavernous center field instead. The difference between a tie and a near-moment was small. and William Contreras being unable to score from first proved costly when Andrew Vaughn struck out and Sal Frelick lightly grounded to third. In the end, Milwaukee stranded 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
Then came the section of the night where the Brewers most needed a break. They had been hit before—after a night with 13 consecutive hitless at-bats with men in scoring position. they were 0 for 7 to begin the second game of the series. A lot of those swings and chances were brutally close to becoming the kind of inning that changes a game: two weak Christian Yelich ground outs. a Sal Frelick tapper to the catcher. and strikeouts by Jake Bauers (twice) and William Contreras.
In the fourth, the pain turned physical. Joey Ortiz smashed a 105.5 mph liner right to Max Kepler in left with the bases loaded and two outs, a rocket that didn’t turn into runs.
Woodruff’s exit forced another quick pivot. and Craig Yoho—called up after the Brewers made a bullpen move—became the key swing in how Milwaukee weathered the damage. Prior to the game. Milwaukee placed Joel Kuhnel on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder impingement and called up Craig Yoho.
Kuhnel’s situation had been urgent enough for emergency work to begin quickly. too—Yoho was rushed into duty after Kuhnel landed on the injured list and then moved into emergency duty. Hours after being activated, Yoho retired all eight batters he faced when he entered on short notice. He got the outs in the middle of the chaos when Woodruff departed with two outs in the fourth.
It wasn’t only the longest outing in the majors for Yoho; it was the kind of stretch that saved a bullpen that covered 25 outs the night prior.
Woodruff’s injury history added weight to the moment. It was his third start back from the “dead arm” symptoms he felt in his last outing against Arizona on April 30. an outing that landed him on the injured list for two months. This time, it was velocity dipping, then a trainer visit, then Woodruff walking off the mound.
The Brewers had some late hope, too—Mitchell’s extra-base hit kept things alive, and Yelich’s home run brought the crowd and the scoreboard within reach. But once Milwaukee got men on, it couldn’t buy the clutch swing it needed.
The game was played in Phoenix as the sides faced off on July 4. with Milwaukee still chasing series momentum after falling 3-2. The Brewers will have another chance in the next matchup in Arizona on July 5 at 3:05 p.m. CT, with Brandon Sproat scheduled to face Eduardo Rodríguez. TV coverage is set for Peacock, and radio is AM-620 WTMJ.
After all of it, the scoreboard could be summed up quickly. Woodruff’s start ended with an injury. Craig Yoho absorbed the fallout and threw his eight batters for an escape. Christian Yelich hit a long homer to give Milwaukee a lifeline. And the Brewers still came up short—because when the run-down moments arrived, the hits didn’t.
Brandon Woodruff Milwaukee Brewers Arizona Diamondbacks Christian Yelich Craig Yoho Joel Kuhnel Phoenix July 4 all-star game injured list