The eighth and ninth innings are usually Innings of Death for Milwaukee's enemies, with Francisco Rodriguez pitching the eighths and John Axford pitching the ninths.
Brewers vs. Diamondbacks: “Phewww”
In this eighth, though, Rodriguez walked leadoff man Aaron Hill and gave up a one-out single to Miguel Montero, with Hill scooting to third base with the potential tying run.
And when Rodriguez fell behind rookie Paul Goldschmidt, two balls and no strikes, things looked bleak. But Rodriguez recovered to strike out Goldschmidt on a 2-and-2 off-speed pitch.
K-Rod still wasn't out of the woods, and walked Chris Young on a full-count slider in the dirt, loading the bases. That brought Collin Cowgill out of the dugout as a pinch-runner for Montero, which gave the Diamondbacks good speed at all three bases and Ryan Roberts due next.
This time Rodriguez wouldn't get behind in the count. He dropped a slow curve over the plate for a first-pitch strike, then threw a fastball down the middle that Roberts just missed. Now ahead in the count, Rodriguez threw a breaking ball that Roberts swung over, grounding the pitch weakly to shortstop Rafael Betancourt, who tossed to Rickie Weeks at second base for the force-out.
Crisis: Averted. And so it's still Brewers 2, Diamondbacks 1 in the middle of the eighth.
See More:
