Good walk home after long evening
Crew rallies after allowing another grand slam
The Milwaukee Brewers surrendered a grand slam for the third consecutive game, a franchise record, but this time they didn't let it beat them.
Trailing by four runs after Robbie Grossman's grand slam in the fifth, the Brewers eventually drew even in the ninth inning Monday night and beat Minnesota, 6-5, on Brad Miller's bases-loaded walk in the 10th at Miller Park.
Playing in his first game in the majors, Nate Orf led off the bottom of the 10th and was hit by a pitch from Twins reliever Zack Littell. After failing twice to get bunts down, Manny Pina singled to left to put two on with no outs.
Keon Broxton, who also failed on a couple of bunt attempts, worked back in the count and drew a walk to load the bases. The Twins went to a fiveman infield and Hernan Perez, batting for closer Corey Knebel, grounded into a force at the plate, with catcher Bobby Wilson handling a wide throw.
But Littell didn't come close to throwing a strike to Miller, walking him on four pitches to end the game.
With one down in the Brewers' ninth, Miller and Eric Thames singled against closer Fernando Rodney. Jesus Aguilar followed with a single to center so sharp that third base coach Ed Sedar held Miller at third, loading the bases.
Travis Shaw, whose offensive production has fallen off dramatically in recent weeks as he has played through a wrist injury, delivered a game-tying sacrifice fly to center, moving Thames to third. Rodney stopped it there by breaking Ryan Braun's bat with an inside fastball, resulting in a grounder to the mound.
The Brewers quickly jumped on Twins starter Kyle Gibson for a run in the first inning. Miller led off with a single, moved to third on a hit by Thames and scored when Aguilar bounced into a force at second.
That inning ended on a crazy play when Shaw bounced out to second, with Aguilar stopping between first and second to force the throw. He then continued to second and when Joe Mauer’s throw struck him and
One moment, it was just a blowout of a basketball game, with Australia leading the Philippines, 79-48, in the third quarter of a FIBA World Cup qualifying game on Monat at Philippine Arena in Bulacan.
Then, with one thrown elbow by Philippines player June Mar Fajardo, the contest turned into an all-out melee. Punches and chairs were thrown as players and spectators got involved in a brawl that spilled off the court.
Milwaukee Bucks center Thon Maker, in just his second game playing with the national team, was in the middle of the fracas, flying into the fray to defend his teammates and try to break things up with his body.
After toppling a pile, Maker was punched in the back of the head by Terrence Bill Romeo of the Philippines. Maker responded by charging at Romeo and kicking at him with his leg. The kick did not connect — it’s unclear if Maker intended to inflict damage — and Maker kept his momentum moving away from the fight.
Thirteen players were ejected — four from Australia, including Maker, and nine from the Philippines. The game actually continued, with the Philippines forced to play with just three players. Australia won, 89-53. caromed into left field, Aguilar advanced to third. When leftfielder Eddie Rosario let the ball escape momentarily, Aguilar tried to score but Rosario threw him out.
Minnesota pulled even in the third, with help from a blown call by home plate umpire Doug Eddings. With runners on second and third and one out, Brian Dozier waved at a two-strike pitch and clearly missed it for what should have been a strikeout. Eddings ruled the ball was foul tipped before hitting the dirt, however, and didn’t ask for help, and Dozier then bounced an RBI grounder to short.
Gibson, who had not batted in the majors since 2016, led off the fifth with his second single of the game. With one down, Rosario beat out an infield hit and Dozier singled through the left side to load the bases.
That brought to the plate Grossman, who had three homers in 205 at-bats this season. Grossman jumped on a first-pitch fastball and sent it out to leftcenter for a grand slam.
The Brewers answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to make it a one-run game. Piña got things started by lining a home run over the centerfield wall, followed by a Keon Broxton double and infield hit by pinch-hitter Jonathan Villar.
Miller dumped a single into left-center, scoring Broxton. After shortstop Jorge Polanco robbed Thames with a leaping catch of his liner, Aguilar walked to load the bases. Gibson got a big out by
striking out Shaw looking at an inside fastball but third baseman Willians Astudillo booted Ryan Braun’s grounder for a run-scoring error to make it 5-4.
Orf sent a drive to deep center that Max Kepler hauled in on the warning track to strand three runners.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
YELICH CLOSER TO PLAYING: Outfielder Christian Yelich missed his fourth consecutive game with lower back tightness but participated in early BP and appeared closer to playing. “Every day has been improvement, so that’s good,” Yelich said after the workout, which included catching some fly balls.
STILL WAITING ON DAVIES: The Brewers are in wait-and-see mode with right-hander Zach Davies, whose last scheduled minor-league rehab start Friday with Class A Wisconsin became a mess due to lower back tightness, not the rotator cuff inflammation that put him on the DL. He was slated to be examined by team physician William Raasch. “It’s really a day-to-day thing,” Counsell said. “As he tolerates it, we’ll progress into bullpens and things like that.”
SALADINO GOES TO SKY SOX: After playing three games with Wisconsin on minor-league rehab, infielder Tyler Saladino (sprained ankle) moved up to Class AAA Colorado Springs. Saladino went 0 for 8 with the Timber Rattlers.
NO WORD ON FIRST-ROUNDER: General manager David Stearns declined to provide an update on negotiations with first-rounder Brice Turang, a prep shortstop out of California. The Brewers have until Friday to sign Turang, who has a scholarship to attend LSU, and it sounds as if it could go either way. “There’s nothing to report,” Stearn said. “I’m not going to comment on the negotiations other than to say we’ll have a resolution, one way or the other, on Friday.”
INTERNATIONAL SIGNINGS: On the first day for signing international players this year, the Brewers were reported to be very active in reaching agreement with players. The most highly regarded were Dominican outfielder Eduarqui Fernandez and Columbian third baseman Branlyn Jaraba. The Brewers were thought to have a similar arrangement with Venezuelan Eduardo Garcia.
RECORD
This year: 48-36
Last year: 44-40
COMING UP
Tuesday: Twins at Brewers, 3:10 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Junior Guerra (4-5, 3.05) vs. Minnesota RHP Jake Odorizzi (3-5, 4.62). Broadcast: Facebook. Radio: AM-620.
cars, which are closer in power and weight to those used in the NASCAR national series.
According to Scott Mayer, Sam’s first lap in an ARCA car at Iowa Speedway was within two-tenths of a second of that turned by series winner Zane Smith moments earlier and he outran his coach in a K&N car at Greensville-Pickens Speedway.
“It’s either make it or break it. Right now we’re pretty much making it,” Sam said. “It’s a lot of fun, too. That’s my main goal, to have fun. That’ll carry over to having success.”
Mayer turned 15 last week, which will allow him to race in the larger cars at bigger tracks. His schedule includes six K&N races and two ARCA races, beginning Saturday at Iowa.
“We’ll give him enough foundation that when he does move up into the truck series and Xfinity cars he’ll be ready for that,” Ranier said.
“If he needs a little more time at a certain level, then we’ll give him more time. It’s not like we’re on some rapid pace here. We just want to move him along and do it the right way.”
In addition to driving for top teams in every division, Mayer also has the marketing support necessary to help build a career. The path is set for him; it’s just a matter of staying on it.
“This year we’re working on a lot of deals and there’s a lot of stuff in the works,” he said. “If I keep doing what I’m doing, it’ll work out.
“I want to go to the Cup someday. Right now we’re on the track for doing that, for sure.”
So, yes, it’s good to be Sam Mayer.