From Bryse Wilson's start to Abner Uribe's theatrics, the Brewers' bullpen had heroic effort

Pat Murphy sat down postgame following his Milwaukee Brewers’ 1-0 win over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday afternoon and offered a quick remark.

“What can you say about the pitching staff?” Murphy said.

The answer: A lot, inherently.

Murphy went on to shower praise upon his staff, which used five relievers on a bullpen day to throw a five-hit shutout over a red-hot Padres offense.

BOX SCORE: Brewers 1, Padres 0

Bryse Wilson started. Bryan Hudson followed with more length. Elvis Peguero got a well-timed double play in the seventh. Abner Uribe pulled a rabbit out of his hat in the eighth. And Joel Payamps shut the door.

It was the Brewers’ first shutout in a bullpen game since September 16, 2020, against the St. Louis Cardinals, though that was a seven-inning contest as part of a doubleheader. Milwaukee’s last nine-inning bullpen game shutout came on May 7, 2019, when Adrian Houser, Freddy Peralta and Burch Smith took care of business.

“It’s a very exciting day for the bullpen,” Uribe said. “We got out there early and we won the battle.”

Here’s a look at how the Brewers piecemealed together a dominant outing.

Bryse Wilson comes out firing

Wednesday’s outing was a bit of a throwback for Bryse Wilson. The right-hander not only formerly reached top prospect status as a starter but did so working at times with William Contreras, who was behind the plate for the Brewers against the Padres. He hadn’t started a big-league game since Sept. 28, 2022, while with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“I was just extremely motivated,” Wilson said. ‘I knew with the bullpen side of me knew, we were very short and we were extended a little bit. So I wanted to get out and be the best I could be.”

Wilson was excellent for the 11 outs the Brewers asked of him. He commanded the glove side of the dish with precision, attacking the Padres’ righty-heavy lineup with his sinker while his cutter worked diving to that same side of the plate to both types of hitters.

“I know guys are going to be aggressive,” Wilson said. “For me today I was able to control the glove side of the plate and with a decently heavy righty lineup, which the Padres have. But if I can control that down and away, I can reset the at-bat with the sinker and just go straight back down and away. That’s the pitcher I am.”

Wilson struck out two in the first inning before he started pitching to more contact. Five of his final eight outs came on the ground while he allowed only two hits – a double to backup catcher Kyle Higashioka in the second and a single to Ha-Seong Kim with two outs in the third.

Bryan Hudson provides the bridge

It would be difficult to find a more pleasant early-season surprise for the Brewers than Hudson, who has emerged from being one of the last players to make the roster to arguably the team’s best bullpen arm so far.

In relieving Wilson, Hudson inherited runners on first and second with two outs in the fourth and got Padres rookie star Jackson Merrill to bounce out harmlessly to first. Hudson then pitched the next two innings without allowing a hit while getting all six of his outs on the ground.

Acquired via trade from the Dodgers in the off-season, the 6-foot-8 Hudson is sporting a 0.96 ERA in 9 ⅔ innings.

“I think I’ve thrown the ball well,” Hudson said. “Couldn’t have asked for anything more. Just super thankful to be here and really glad the ground balls are going my way. Looking to keep it rolling.”

Between Wilson and Hudson, the Brewers couldn’t have asked for anything more.

They needed every last bit of it, too, with Padres starter Michael King dominant as he took a no-hitter two outs deep into the seventh inning.

“Bryse and Hudson gave us what we needed,” Murphy said. “Bryse was sensational. We sat in the office and talked about this day coming and Bryse was spot-on. To give us that start out of the gate when that kid was incredible early – that kid was sensational – and to have us match him like that? You think about that start, it was special.”

Abner Uribe uses his shortstop background to get out of a jam

As a young prospect in the Dominican Republic, Abner Uribe wanted to be a shortstop, but it was his mother that talked him into pitching because of his lively right arm instead.

He’s now pitching in big spots for the Brewers as a 23-year-old but was able to live a shortstop’s dream Wednesday.

With two outs and Matthew Batten still on third after his triple to lead off the top of the eighth, Uribe threw a sinker that barreled in on the hands of Fernando Tatis Jr. at the plate. Tatis, one of the faster runners in the game, fisted it to the ground toward the third-base line and took off for first.

Uribe pounced off the mound, reached down with his bare hand, ever-so-briefly gathered himself and uncorked a full-throttle throw to first baseman Jake Bauers while his weight was almost entirely headed the opposite direction.

“At first I thought it was pretty hard coming off the bat,” Uribe said. “I thought it was a little closer to the foul line than it was. Once I saw where it was, it was about making a play.”

Uribe’s 79.3 mph dart hit Bauers on target.

“Honestly, I feel a little bit more bad for our first baseman,” Wilson quipped.

Uribe let out a loud holler after making the play and escaping the jam.

When Batten took a 96-mph sinker into left-center for a leadoff triple, it looked as though Uribe, who threw 31 pitches the day prior and was working with diminished velocity Wednesday, would be in trouble. But the fireballer honed in on his command and got Higashioka to pop out to second, then struck out Xander Bogaerts with a sinker right on the inside corner at the knees before turning back into a shortstop against Tatis.

“It’s awesome,” Wilson said. “For him, as young as he is, to be able to keep the composure after a leadoff triple and come away with a scoreless inning, it’s a testament to him and ability to pitch and just how good he is.”

This might be a blueprint for the Brewers

Entering the day, no team had gotten fewer innings from its starting pitchers than Milwaukee, which was averaging just over 4 ⅔ innings per start coming in – and that’s without any openers or designed bullpen game.

Milwaukee starters don’t often go deep into games. Freddy Peralta has two starts of six innings and, outside of that, only Colin Rea and Joe Ross have gone at least six innings, each doing so once.

Coming into the finale Wednesday, the Brewers had only gotten 7 ⅔ innings from their starters through two games in the series against the Padres.

That has placed a heavy burden on the bullpen, with five relievers now having pitched at least eight innings through the first 17 games.

“Whenever our name is called, we go out and throw as long as we’re told to,” Wilson said. “I know that we take a lot of pride in the fact that the bullpen has been a staple in this organization and we want to continue that. We have a good group of guys that hasn’t gotten off to the start we would have liked. Not a terrible start, but not what we’re used to. We just take a lot of pride in being the best bullpen in baseball.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers bullpen provides heroic effort in 1-0 win over Padres