Woodruff dominates Phillies as Brewers avoid sweep

Brandon Woodruff retired the first 15 hitters, allowed one hit in eight dominant innings and the Milwaukee Brewers averted a three-game sweep to the visiting Philadelphia Phillies with a 9-1 victory on Sunday afternoon.Woodruff (7-1) improved to 6-0 in his last eight starts and picked up his league-leading seventh win. He lost his perfect game bid and shutout when Andrew Knapp opened the sixth with a homer.After allowing Knapp’s first homer, Woodruff retired the next nine hitters and ended his outing by fanning Knapp on a 98-mph fastball. Woodruff struck out a career-high 10 hitters and finished every inning with a strikeout. He fanned Bryce Harper and Odubel Herrera three times apiece to highlight a 97-pitch outing. The Brewers produced their eighth one-hitter in team history and first at Miller Park. It was their first one-hitter since CC Sabathia allowed only an infield single at Pittsburgh on Aug 31, 2008.It also was the Brewers’ first one-hitter in Milwaukee since Danny Darwin against the Minnesota Twins on Aug 19, 1985.Christian Yelich hit his major league-leading 21st homer, Ben Gamel recorded his first career multi-homer game as Milwaukee rebounded nicely from Saturday’s 7-2 loss. Yasmani Grandal and Hernan Perez also homered as Milwaukee tied a season-high with five homers and collected 12 hits.Woodruff, who is hitting .370 (10-for-27), drove in a pair of runs. He had an RBI double in the fourth and then contributed a run-scoring single to cap a four-run fifth that helped Milwaukee race out to a 7-0 lead.Philadelphia starter Zach Eflin (5-5) turned in his shortest outing of the season, allowing three runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings. He exited after allowing Woodruff’s double.The Phillies lost for the third time in their last 10 games as shortstop Jean Segura saw the majors’ longest active hitting streak ended at 16 games. Milwaukee jumped ahead when Gamel capped a seven-pitch at-bat by homering in the third. The Brewersadded two in the fourth when Grandal homered on the second pitch of the inning and Woodruff doubled. Yelich hit his latest homer off Vince Velasquez in the fifth, and Grandal followed with an RBI groundout before Perez homered and Woodruff singled.Milwaukee third baseman Mike Moustakas was ejected in the seventh inning by third base umpire Mike Estabrook. Estabrook was the plate umpire Saturday and tossed Ryan Braun and manager Craig Counsell.Meanwhile Corey Seager and Joc Pederson homered and Matt Beaty drove in four runs Sunday for the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers, who outslugged the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-7 on Sunday to complete a three-game series sweep. Justin Turner was 5-for-5 with a walk and three runs scored during his first career five-hit game for the Dodgers, who over the past three seasons are 17-2 against Pittsburgh and have won 10 straight.Los Angeles finished its road trip with a 6-2 mark. Bryan Reynolds and Adam Frazier homered for Pittsburgh, which concluded a 1-5 homestand. Los Angeles starter Kenta Maeda (6-2) and Pittsburgh starter Chris Archer (1-5) each pitched five innings. Maeda allowed three runs and five hits, with four strikeouts and no walks. Archer gave up four runs and six hits, with three strikeouts and six walks. Seager led off the second with a first-pitch homer, his fifth, to center for a 1-0 Dodgers lead. It was Los Angeles’ 80th homer of the season. Pittsburgh took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second on Reynolds’ fifth homer, a two-run shot to right.Los Angeles regained the lead in the fifth, 4-2, on Beaty’s two-run single and an RBI fielder’s choice by Seager.Frazier hit his third homer, a shot to centre, to close it to 4-3 with two outs in the fifth.Against relievers Montana DuRapau and Dovydas Neverauskas, the Dodgers sent 11 batters to the plate and racked up six runs in the sixth. Pederson led off with his 15th homer and later singled in the sixth run of the frame for a 10-3 advantage.Los Angeles catcher Austin Barnes was hit by a pitch in that sequence. He stayed in to run the bases but left after that because of groin soreness. Colin Moran, Elias Diaz and Melky Cabrera each had an RBI base hit in the bottom of the sixth as the Pirates pulled to within 10-6. Beaty’s RBI single in the seventh made it 11-6, and Gregory Polanco’s RBI double in the ninth made it a four-run margin and closed out the scoring.