Freddy Peralta comes through for the Brewers

LOS ANGELES – Brewers manager Craig Counsell has used and relied on his bullpen extensively from the last couple weeks of the regular season through the National League Championship Series.

Counsell sent Game 1 starter Gio Gonzalez out to start Game 4. Gonzalez threw only two innings in Game 1, so the hope was that the veteran left-hander could give Counsell more on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium than he did at Miller Park on Friday.

But in the top of the second inning, Gonzalez rolled his left ankle fielding a ball off Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig’s bat. He couldn’t continue, and Counsell needed to go to his bullpen after only seven batters. The first call was to get 22-year-old right-hander Freddy Peralta up.

Peralta wasn’t ready for the phone to ring, but he snapped into action quickly.

“You have to be ready for everything,” Peralta told La Vida Baseball after the Dodgers beat the Brewers 2-1 in 13 innings to even the best-of-seven NLCS at two games apiece. “I wasn’t ready for that moment, but when the phone rang I said ‘OK, let’s do this.’”

The young Dominican pitcher relied heavily on Manny Piña, Milwaukee’s Venezuelan catcher, to convey both calm and the impromptu gameplan. Because a lefthander had started the game, the Brewers and Dodgers were now recalculating their approach earlier than either side anticipated.

Peralta wasn’t intimidated. He showed the same dominance that he showed when he struck out 13 Rockies in his major league debut in May. He made two starts in the majors before he was demoted to get extra work. He spent a month in Class AAA before rejoining the Brewers on June 19.

The patience Peralta learned during his time in the minors paid off in Game 4. He inherited a one-run deficit and a runner on base. He responded with three scoreless innings. Peralta struck out six and walked three while not allowing a hit in relief.

“We got some incredible pitching performances tonight,” Counsell said after the Brewers’ 13-inning loss. “Freddy and Junior [Guerra], as well, were absolutely wonderful and really put us in a spot to give us some chances to try to put some runs on the board.”

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