Brewers 3, Rockies 0: Colin Rea does something not seen from a Milwaukee pitcher in almost 20 years

DENVER – Pitching in rarefied air, Colin Rea achieved some of his own.

On a day when the two faces of the Milwaukee Brewers were named All-Star Game starters, it was Rea, the perpetually unsung hero of the roster, who delivered a performance unseen from anyone in the franchise in almost two decades.

Rea continued his spectacular season Wednesday night a mile high at Coors Field spinning a dazzling seven-inning shutout outing to lead the Brewers to a 3-0 win over the Colorado Rockies.

"To come to Colorado and throw seven scoreless is a really remarkable feat," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. "He was convicted all  day, you could really see it."

Rea scattered six hits and didn’t walk a batter while also striking out four, becoming the first Brewers pitcher to go at least seven frames without allowing a run at Coors Field since Chris Capuano in 2005.

BOX SCORE: Brewers 3, Rockies 0

Not Ben Sheets, Yovani Gallardo, Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff or Corbin Burnes.

Nope. Colin Rea.

And, fittingly, the soft-spoken, light-tossing right-hander who just celebrated his 34th birthday earlier in the week downplayed the feat like only he could.

"I think the only thing different was being down in the zone," Rea said. "That was the biggest thing. Then we took our shots going up in the zone sometimes. My delivery felt really good tonight. Felt like timing was good. William (Contreras) was moving in and out. We were executing all night."

Colin Rea delivers stellar outing at altitude

The groundwork for Rea's effort Wednesday was made two days prior upon first arriving at the ballpark. Rea threw a bullpen in the afternoon Monday but added a wrinkle.

He didn't utilize the TrackMan camera, the slow-motion capturing video technology every Brewers pitcher uses during every bullpen session to gather key information such as pitch movements and release points.

In fact, Rea and the Brewers didn't even turn it on. Rea felt some indecision about whether or not to use it because his movement metrics would look so much poorer than usual due to the thin air, so pitching coach Chris Hook made the final call to ditch it.

"I think it helps," Rea said. "Not overthinking. Not trying to do too much here. When you run into problems is when you fall behind, you try to make a perfect pitch and you end up walking one or two guys. And then you got to use more of the plate and they get that big hit."

Rea did make adjustments to counter the environment, though. At the suggestion of Hook, he started his two-seamers aimed at the spot he ultimately wanted them to finish, rather than a few inches toward his glove side as he typically would, knowing the ball wouldn't break like it usually would. It worked, too, as Rea got four fewer inches of horizontal break and three fewer inches of drop.

By focusing so much more on controlling the baseball and working through his body and down the hill with his mechanics, Rea added a few inches to his extension to up it to around seven feet.

Just when you think Rea's importance to the Brewers cannot be any more apparent, he delivers a start like this one.

Put it all together and you get a remarkable outing.

"To go seven like he did tonight that has to be one of the best starts of his career given the circumstances of this place," Brewers reliever Jakob Junis said.

Rea may be the unsung hero of the Brewers, but he's now gaining notice

Rea lowered his season ERA to 3.34 and registered his 10th outing of at least five innings and two or fewer runs allowed. He's on pace to pitch 175 innings for a team that is without starters Wade Miley, Brandon Woodruff, DL Hall, Joe Ross and Robert Gasser.

The Brewers are, to a large degree, currently a collection of castaway players on the pitching side who found their way to the island of misfit arms Milwaukee. They will use their 16th different starting pitcher, by far the most in the majors, this weekend when newly-acquired Aaron Civale takes the mound in Los Angeles. Junis became the ninth different Brewers pitcher to record a save when he pitched the final two innings against the Rockies Wednesday.

In spite of the disarray and the churn as far as the pitchers go on the roster, the Brewers are in first place and a season-best 17 games over .500 at 52-35.

Rea is among the main reasons why.

Often easy to gloss over because of his nonchalant nature or lack of overpowering stuff on the mound, Rea might be shifting from unsung hero to one of Milwaukee's most valuable players.

"After tonight especially, it definitely should not be getting overlooked," Junis said. "He’s been a huge part of this team just giving you five, six, seven innings every time out. He’s reliable. Takes the ball every single five days. There's a lot of stuff that he's doing that’s impressive. The guys in this locker room notice that. Hopefully the fans take notice, too."

Willy Adames gets tossed

A frustrating evening for Brewers shortstop Willy Adames was brought to a screeching end in the fifth inning by home plate umpire Mark Ripperger. Adames, after being called out on strikes for the second time in three innings in a big situation, had some words for Ripperger upon being rung up. As he walked away, Adames turned one more time and made a comment, upon which Ripperger tossed him.

The bases-loaded strikeout for Adames came two innings after he was rung up on a pitch that appeared to be below the zone with runners on second and third.

The called third strike the second time around appeared to be the correct call.

All-star Christian Yelich goes deep

The Brewers' two all-stars weren't shabby, either.

Shortly after finding out on the Brewers' team bus that he had been named a starter in the upcoming All-Star Game, Christian Yelich opened up the scoring with a solo homer in the first inning.

Yelich crushed a 112.1 mph line drive off a sinker from Rockies starter Dakota Hudson, who might just want to pitch around Yelich at this point. Yelich then improved to 7 for 14 with three homers and eight walks against Hudson in his career when he ripped a 113-mph double to right in the third inning.

Finally, in the fifth inning, Hudson worked around Yelich for a walk.

Hudson was also the starting pitcher when Yelich slugged his way to a three-homer game in April of 2019.

Yelich also made a dazzling warning-track grab at full speed in left to take away a double from Ryan McMahon and end the eighth after the Rockies had brought the tying run to the plate against Junis.

His all-star counterpart, William Contreras, guided the pitching staff to a shutout from behind the plate while also notching a three-hit night with the bat.

Joey Ortiz placed on injured list

After dealing with a stiff neck for much of the last two weeks, Joey Ortiz landed on the 10-day injured list before Wednesday's game with neck inflammation.

Ortiz hopes for a minimum stay on the injured list but is still lacking the necessary motion in his neck.

"It's getting better," he said. "I feel better. It's just not where we want it to be. So taking the time off."

Vinny Capra was promoted from Class AAA Nashville in a corresponding move.

Enoli Paredes was also placed on the injured list with right forearm tendinitis. Janson Junk was called up to replace him.

Brewers schedule

Brewers at Rockies, 7:10 p.m. Thursday. Milwaukee RHP Tobias Myers (5-2, 3.26) vs. Colorado RHP Cal Quantrill (6-6, 3.78). Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.

Brewers at Dodgers, 9:10 p.m. Friday. Milwaukee TBA vs. Los Angeles TBA. Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.

Brewers at Dodgers, 6:15 p.m. Saturday. Milwaukee TBA vs. Los Angeles TBA. Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.

Brewers at Dodgers, 3:10 p.m. Sunday Milwaukee TBA vs. Los Angeles TBA. Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers 3, Rockies 0: Colin Rea does something not seen from a Milwaukee pitcher in almost 20 years