Del Castillo hits 3-run homer to lift Diamondbacks past Brewers 4-3

PHOENIX (AP) — Adrian Del Castillo hit a three-run home run in the first inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks held on to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 on Saturday night.

Merrill Kelly (6-8) went five innings to win for the first time in seven starts. He allowed eight hits, walked two and struck out six. He gave up two runs in the fifth on Christian Yelich’s sixth home run of the season.

Paul Sewald gave up Jackson Chourio’s 13th homer in the ninth but finished for his 20th save in 21 chances.

Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff left the game in the fourth inning, accompanied by a trainer, after striking out Del Castillo on a 3-2 pitch.

After the game, Brewers manager Pat Murphy said that Woodruff would probably be placed back on the injured list. The right-hander was making his third start since returning from the injured list with right shoulder inflammation.

Woodruff said after the game that it was similar to his earlier shoulder issue, and that it wasn’t a good idea to prolong his outing.

“First inning was fine, then it was kind of a slow progression of discomfort,” Woodruff said.

“It’s kind of the life of my shoulder. You hope that it will hold on until the end of the year and then you reassess and make some adjustments. But it’s kind of popped up on me here.”

Woodruff has been limited to 32 starts since 2023, including missing the entire ’24 campaign.

“It gets a little frustrating dealing with this. It kind of comes in waves,” he said.

His highest velocity pitch in the fourth inning was 87 mph. He gave up two hits, three runs and a walk in 3 2/3 innings, striking out six.

Arizona moved back to .500 (45-45) despite being outhit 12-4. The Brewers had won their last six games on the road.

After Del Castillo’s home run, Woodruff and relievers Craig Yoho and Jared Koenig retired the next 19 Diamondbacks batters until pinch-hitter Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled leading off the eighth. Ildemaro Vargas followed with a double off Koenig to score pinch runner Jorge Barrosa to make it 4-2.

Woodruff walked Corbin Carroll with two outs in the first, Gabriel Moreno followed with a single to center and Del Castillo hit his fifth homer of the season into the right-field seats.

Woodruff (2-2) hadn’t allowed a run in his previous two starts since returning to the Milwaukee rotation. His season ERA is 2.98.

Up next

Milwaukee RHP Brandon Sproat (3-4, 5.2 ERA) vs. Arizona LHP and first-time All-Star Eduardo Rodríguez (7-2, 2.21) in Sunday’s series finale.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb