Major League Baseball
Milwaukee 2, Tampa Bay 0
When: 7:10 PM ET, Friday, August 4, 2017
Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Gary Cederstrom, 1B - Gabe Morales, 2B - Adrian Johnson, 3B - Eric Cooper
Attendance: 21164

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Rookie pitcher Brandon Woodruff was superb in his major league debut, and Orlando Arcia did everything else for the Milwaukee Brewers, scoring both runs in a 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night at Tropicana Field.

"He had a heck of a game -- he was the offense tonight, and he was the defense tonight," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said after Arcia -- No. 9 hitter in his lineup -- had three of Milwaukee's five hits, including a triple and home run.

Woodruff (1-0) got out of early jams and threw 6 1/3 shutout innings against a team that had just won three straight against the Houston Astros.

"He certainly worked hard for the first two innings, but the composure and the way he went about it, making pitches in stressful situations early in the game in your first big-league start is something that leaves me really impressed," Counsell said.

Milwaukee (58-53) won without much help from their bats for the second straight game and Tampa Bay (57-54) spoiled a solid start from rookie Jake Faria (5-2).

Brewers closer Corey Knebel pitched a scoreless ninth for his 21st save, getting all three outs by strikeout.

Arcia added an insurance run in the eighth with a home run -- his 10th of the season -- off reliever Sergio Romo, extending the lead to 2-0.

Milwaukee won despite being held to five hits by Tampa Bay pitching, but the Rays left 11 runners on base.

The Rays nearly tied the score in the seventh with a two-out rally against rookie reliever Josh Hader.

Corey Dickerson, who had walked, tried to score on a double to left field by Evan Longoria, but the throw and Arcia's relay home got there first and catcher Manny Pina tagged him out to preserve the 1-0 lead.

Friday's win was Milwaukee's sixth shutout of the season. The Rays have been blanked six times this year.

"Their guy, he was impressive. He got in some jams early on, made some pitches where we couldn't get that big hit for some reason," Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said.

The Brewers led 1-0 after five innings thanks to Woodruff. He was scheduled to make his debut in June but was scratched with a hamstring injury and spent six weeks on the disabled list.

Woodruff got himself into and out of trouble in the early innings -- the Rays had the bases loaded in the first two innings -- but he got a comebacker from Brad Miller to end the first and a groundout by Longoria to escape the second unscathed.

The Rays had runners at the corners with no outs in the third but again couldn't convert, with Steven Souza caught in a rundown between first and second to end the inning.

Tampa Bay got the leadoff man on again in the fourth, but Mallex Smith was picked off by Woodruff to erase another runner.

Milwaukee couldn't muster much at the plate against Faria, who held them to four hits and struck out nine in six innings. Arcia led off the third with a triple and scored on Eric Thames' single to right field, providing the only run through five innings.

"He did everything he could to keep it right there close," Cash said of Faria. "That's the way it goes. The bats went a little bit quiet tonight."

Woodruff's solid debut came after a rough patch in the minors -- he had gone 1-5 in his last 10 starts with a 6.69 ERA, winning only once since May 7 while missing about half of that time with injury.

NOTES: The Rays made several roster moves, activating INF Daniel Robertson from the 10-day disabled list (neck spasms). The optioned INF Taylor Featherston and LHP Blake Snell to Triple-A Durham and recalled LHP Jose Alvarado to help the bullpen, which was used extensively in three straight wins against the Astros. Snell, winless in 14 starts in two stints with the Rays, is at risk of losing his spot in the rotation in the final two months of the season. Robertson gave SS Adeiny Hechavarria a night off, batting ninth. ... The Brewers placed C Jett Bandy on the 10-day disabled list with a fractured rib, recalling C Andrew Susac from Triple-A Colorado Springs. They also optioned top prospect and OF Lewis Brinson to Colorado Springs to make room for starter Brandon Woodruff, who made his major-league debut.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Milwaukee   Tampa Bay
Brandon Woodruff Player Jacob Faria
Win W/L Loss
6.1 IP 6.0
6 Strikeouts 9
7 Hits 4
0.00 ERA 1.50
Hitting
Milwaukee   Tampa Bay
Orlando Arcia Player Logan Morrison
3 Hits 3
1 RBI 0
1 HR 0
8 TB 3
1.000 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Milwaukee 5 1 10 .161 8 13 2 2 0 1
Tampa Bay 9 0 10 .265 22 11 0 3 0 0