Brewers tab Brent Suter to start Game 1 of NL Wild Card series

Milwaukee has made a decision on its starting pitcher for the first game of the NL Wild Card series against Los Angeles.

The Brewers announced that Brent Suter would get the ball against the Dodgers in Game 1 of the best-of-three series on Wednesday night.

It will be Suter’s second postseason appearance and his first as a starter. He missed Milwaukee’s 2018 playoff run to the National League Championship Series, but did get to pitch an inning in last year’s NL Wild Card loss to Washington.

Pitching mostly out of the bullpen in 2020, the 30-year-old Suter has an ERA of 3.13 over 31 2/3 innings. He did get to start four games, all in the last month, including last Friday against St. Louis. He went four innings, allowing just two hits in a game the Brewers won. In fact, in his four starts he allowed just two runs but also never went deeper than four innings.

Milwaukee will go with Brandon Woodruff for Game 2. With projected Game 1 starter Corbin Burnes on the 10-day injured list, there had been some talk of Woodruff pitching on four days rest, but manager Craig Counsell decided to keep him on his normal schedule. A starter for a potential Game 3 has not been named.

The Brewers must decide by Wednesday whether to put Brett Anderson on the series roster. He left Sunday’s start with a blister and his status is unclear. He would be the likely option if cleared to pitch.

The Dodgers will go with Walker Buehler in Game 1 despite him pitching just four innings in the last three weeks due to a blister. Veteran Clayton Kershaw will get the ball in Game 2.