Brewers' Brandon Woodruff pitched like an ace when facing the Reds

Brewers’ Brandon Woodruff pitched like an ace when facing the Reds originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Injuries over the last couple of seasons have been a problem for Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff, and this year has been no exception. 

Woodruff has been on the injured list since May 1 with right shoulder inflammation and was activated on Monday to start against the Cincinnati Reds. The two-time All-Star didn’t disappoint as he had a magnificent performance, which had him record his 900th strikeout. 

Brandon Woodruff looked like an ace for the Milwaukee Brewers when facing the Cincinnati Reds 

In his first start since his activation, Woodruff tossed six innings of one-hit baseball, carrying a perfect game into the sixth, until catcher Tyler Stephenson singled. Woodruff also struck out 10 on 79 pitches (53 strikes). 

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One of Woodruff’s 10 strikeouts was his 900th of his career, which the 33-year-old thought was cool, but he doesn’t pay attention to that type of stuff. 

“It’s cool,” Woodruff said to the Associated Press. “I don’t really pay attention to that kind of stuff. I’ve done it in one uniform. Some longevity into it. Hopefully continue on that trend.”

Woodruff’s last start came on April 30th, when he was pulled after 1.1 innings and was placed on the injured list the next day. Woodruff wanted to return early, but realized that the smart move is to listen to his body so he can eat innings for the Brewers. 

“It was very minor once we figured out what it was,” Woodruff said to the Associated Press. “As a competitor, I felt like I was in a spot where I could go pitch and help the team. Hopefully this plays out great to where now it’s just fall back into this thing, be smart, listen to my body, and do the best I can to eat up innings for this team.”

Having Woodruff back healthy and pitching like an ace further deepens the Brewers’ starting rotation, led by Jacob Misiorowski, who is a frontrunner to win the National League Cy Young Award. 

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