Shaw’s bases-loaded walk is the difference
Travis Shaw’s patience helped deliver the Milwaukee Brewers a hard-fought victory on Friday night.
His bases-loaded walk in the 10th inning forced in Eric Sogard with the winning run as the Brewers outlasted the New York Mets, 4-3, at Miller Park.
Shaw also drove in runs with a home run in the second inning and a single in the third for Milwaukee, which improved to 4-1 in extra-innings games on the season.
The Brewers were an out away from closing out an efficient and impressive victory with Corey Knebel on the mound in the ninth.
With the Brewers clinging to a 3-2 lead, the righthander retired the first two batters he faced before issuing consecutive walks to Michael Conforto and Devin Mesoraco. That brought up José Bautista, who singled to left on Knebel’s second offering to score Conforto and tie the game.
Knebel followed by issuing another walk to load
the bases, ending his night. Jeremy Jeffress then came on to record the final out.
The Brewers got the winning run aboard to open their half of the ninth as Shaw greeted Robert Gsellman with an opposite-field double against the shift. But with one out, Shaw was doubled off second on a lineout to left by Manny Piña to quickly halt the rally.
Milwaukee finally put together its winning rally in the 10th, with Sogard singling to snap an 0-for-28 streak with the Brewers and get the winning run on base.
After Lorenzo Cain flew out, Christian Yelich singled against left-hander Jerry Blevins. Blevins was replaced by A.J. Ramos, who followed by walking Hernán Pérez on four pitches to load the bases for Shaw.
Four of the five pitches Ramos then threw to Shaw were balls, with the fifth and final fastball being spiked in front of the plate that allowed Sogard to trot home and give the Brewers victory.
Shaw homered off Noah Syndergaard to get Milwaukee on the board in the second inning, his team-leading 13th of the season.
After Amed Rosario tied it up with a homer in the third the Brewers scored twice in the bottom half of the frame. Cain started the rally with a bloop single to right, stole second and scored on a Yelich single that caromed off the glove of Syndergaard.
Yelich then stole second, and after a Jesús Aguilar flyout he came around to score on a Shaw single to center.
That wound up being enough against Syndergaard, who limited the Brewers to just one run on two hits in 5 1/3 innings while striking out 11 in cold and windy conditions the last time he faced them at Citi Field on April 15.
Guerra made one more mistake, allowing a fourth-inning homer to Conforto that pulled New York to within a run. But he recovered to finish six innings on only 72 pitches, allowing five hits without a walk while striking out three.
The Brewers didn’t manage much else against Syndergaard, who struck out eight in six innings.
Brewers starter Junior Guerra threw six strong innings. He allowed five hits and struck out three batters.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
LOVE FOR GLOVE: While Tyler Saladino has gotten off to a fast start offensively by hitting three homers in his first couple weeks with the team, general manager David Stearns said he’s confident he’ll be able to do the job defensively at shortstop with Sogard and Hernán Pérez also options.
“Saladino is a very capable shortstop,” Stearns said. “He’s done it at the major-league level extensively. We’ve seen him play a very good shortstop and second base when he’s had time so far, so we have confidence he can hold down that position defensively quite well.”
WELCOME BACK: After hitting .100 in 28 games in his first stint with the Brewers, Sogard returns after having hit .229 and seven RBI in 11 games at Class AAA Colorado Springs.
“We think Eric was making progress,” Stearns said. “He was beginning to hit the ball a little harder with more consistent ABs. I know he feels more comfortable at the plate now, which is a big part of it.” We’re happy to have him back. We know Eric’s a versatile guy, we know he’s a professional and he’s going to contribute to this team in any way he can.”
REVOLVING DOOR: Jorge López pitched two innings in the Brewers’ loss Thursday, so he was optioned out Friday in favor of right-hander Adrian Houser, who returned to Milwaukee from Class AA Biloxi for his second tour of duty this season. He pitched two innings and struck out three in his only appearance for the Brewers, and had started eight games for the Shuckers after that.
Jacob Barnes, who was optioned to Colorado Springs on May 12, continues to work on his fastball command with the Sky Sox and remains an option as a callup in the future.
“Right now it was just a fresh arm,” manager Craig Counsell said.
CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT: Stearns acknowledged that Arcia and Jett Bandy were both important members in the Brewers’ clubhouse, which has exhibited uncommonly strong camaraderie over the past couple seasons. He said he had confidence both Sogard and Erik Kratz can add to the mix.
“They’re two popular players and two guys who have been a big part of this team for the last year and a half, and, frankly two players that we hope are going to be part of this team moving forward,” he said.
IN AND OUT: A day after Ryan Braun was reinstated from the disabled list, he was out of the lineup for a planned day off according to Counsell. Braun was 1 for 6 with two strikeouts against Syndergaard coming in. He eventually entered the game in the ninth at first base in a double switch.