Brandon Woodruff's first Major League pitch in 652 days was a strike. His first out was a strikeout. His first two innings were perfect. His third inning featured a fastball that lit the stadium scoreboard at 96 mph.

In an an almost flawless season debut where he did not walk a batter and seemed to be completely in the zone, Woodruff allowed only two hits and one run while striking out eight. In his first six innings of 2025, Woodruff looked like the same pitcher that averaged 10.3 strikeouts per nine frames before the injury

The Brewers entered Sunday with a 49-40 record on the season, putting them in second place in the NL Central, four games back of the Chicago Cubs. The Brewers were 2 ½ games back of the New York Mets for the top wild-card spot and possessed a 1 ½ game lead over the various teams vying for the third wild card.