3 Milwaukee Brewers to blame for NL Wild Card series loss to Arizona

Freddy Peralta did not step up for Brandon Woodruff, Brewers

Freddy Peralta was forced to step in earlier than expected against Arizona in Game 2, but did not perform up to his regular-season standard. Peralta had a sub-4 ERA in 2023, and is one of the better young pitchers in all of baseball.

The sixth inning got away from Peralta, as Milwaukee held the lead up until that point. In his final stat line, he gave up four runs in less than six innings of work. Counsell's choice to leave his young pitcher in until that point did not go unnoticed, and may have led to his unraveling.

It is tough to put too much blame on Peralta, though, as he was thrust in a tough spot. His offense didn't do him too many favors in terms of run support, either, scoring just twice in nine innings of play.