SPORTS LINE
The Milwaukee Bucks.
Giannis is gone. As with most professional sports today, the time comes when the maximum dollar can be extracted from what’s left of a great star sportsman. That last dollar’s worth is being sucked out of this great basketball icon and star as he’s rendered to the Miami Heat for God knows what in trade. Goodwill is one of the things lost, as this man came to symbolize the hopes and dreams of a little Milwaukee team that has tried so very hard to be one of the big teams in the game.
The public is not truly considered in these big-money trades anymore, as local customers simply don’t matter when the money isn’t primarily coming through the door in ticket sales. It comes from streaming stations and cable. One of the things the big players in any pro sport give away up front is where they are going to work and where their families are going to reside with them. Ten years Giannis had with Milwaukee, and he says he’s terribly sorry to be leaving, although not likely as sorry as fans in and around Milwaukee will be hurt in hurt when getting this news.
The Milwaukee Brewers.
Brewers. Brandon Woodruff is back. Woodruff hasn’t made a start in the majors since April 30th. Woodruff, 33, made six starts this season before going on the IL with right shoulder inflammation. He is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA over 30 innings and was scheduled to start against the Reds on Monday. Back in the Brewers’ rotation after nearly two months on the injured list, the 33-year-old Woodruff retired the first 16 Reds he faced on the way to navigating six scoreless innings in Milwaukee’s 2-1 win in 10 innings at Great American Ball Park on Monday. While he wasn’t quite perfect, Woodruff was good enough to give the Brewers a lift as the start of a stretch of 18 games over 17 days looms later this week. His final line was brilliant: Six scoreless innings, one hit, no walks, 10 strikeouts — and no run support.
Neither team managed to score until the 10th, when the Brewers plated a pair of runs without the benefit of a hit. They took the lead on Joey Ortiz’s sacrifice fly and padded it when Garrett Mitchell scampered home on a wild pitch. Woodruff, for the 21st time in his career, ended a game with 10-plus strikeouts. All-time, he’s now second in Brewers’ franchise history with that total. Of the 79 pitches Woodruff threw, 53 of them were for strikes. For those who were concerned about Woodruff’s velocity with him getting deeper into games, Woodruff topped out at 95 mph in the sixth inning. The Brewers broadcast showed a velocity chart for what he did in the first four innings, and safe to say, it couldn’t have been much better. Woodruff missed all of 2024 after undergoing shoulder surgery and made just 12 starts in his return last year. The nine-year veteran is 7-4 with a 3.48 ERA in 15 career appearances (13 starts) against the Reds. A two-time All-Star, Woodruff is 55-29 with a 3.12 ERA over 148 appearances (133 starts) since 2017 for the Brewers.
The Milwaukee Brewers couldn’t have asked for much more out of Brandon Woodruff in his big-league return.
