Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Dallas Keuchel (60) pitches during the first inning of their game against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wis. Left-hander Rob Zastryzny became the 15th different starting pitcher this season for Milwaukee when he pitched a 1-2-3 first inning as the opener in the Brewers’ 8-7 loss to the Colorado Rockies in Denver on Monday.
No. 14 was another left-hander who will make his second start of the campaign Tuesday, when former American League Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel takes the mound for the Brewers.
Keuchel, 36 (0-0, 11.25 ERA), a two-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner who won the AL Cy Young in 2015 while going 20-8 for the Houston Astros in 2015, was acquired on June 25 from the Seattle Mariners for cash considerations. He was quickly slotted into the Brewers’ injury-plagued rotation the next day against the Texas Rangers.
Keuchel, who was 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA in 13 starts with Triple-A Tacoma at the time of the trade, pitched four innings in his Milwaukee debut. He allowed five runs, including back-to-back homers, on eight hits in a game the Brewers ultimately won in 10 innings, 6-5. He walked one and struck out four, leaving the game after throwing 71 pitches, including 43 strikes.
“I got exhausted pretty early,” Keuchel said. “I was pretty excited. I’m hoping to get a lot more stamina and a little more composure.”
Keuchel is 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA in four appearances (including three starts) against the Rockies. He is 0-1 with an 11.74 ERA in two appearances (including one start) in Denver.
Colorado, which has won two straight games for the first time since late May, will start right-hander Ryan Feltner (1-7, 5.82 ERA).
A fourth-round pick out of Ohio University in 2018, Feltner is 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA in two career starts against Milwaukee. He has a chance to set a franchise record against the Brewers.
Feltner has pitched at least four innings of work and allowed two or fewer walks in 16 consecutive starts, matching the club mark set by Jeff Francis from June 28, 2008, to June 25, 2010. Unfortunately, that statistic hasn’t translated into wins for the Rockies. Feltner has made 13 starts since earning his only win of the season, 12-4, on April 12 at Toronto.
Feltner is coming off a 7-1 loss at Houston on Wednesday, in which he allowed four runs (two earned) on six hits in six-plus innings. He walked one and struck out two.
“I try not to look at the line too much because certain things can happen in a baseball game,” Feltner said after the outing against the Astros. “As far as my equipment and my execution of my pitches, I felt like it was one of my better days.”
Colorado will try to win three straight games for the first time since May 9-15, when the Rockies won seven straight. The Rockies have won two straight games in extra innings, including an 8-7 victory in 10 innings Monday. Jake Cave singled with the bases loaded for his first career hit.
“When you’re a little kid, you think about it: They’re making a couple guys walk over to you, and you’re ending the game,” Cave said, according to the Denver Post. “So, yeah, I was thinking about it, but I was trying to get my heart rate down and see a pitch. … Once I saw the ball hit the grass, it was time to celebrate.”
–Field level media
