Brewers discover winning recipe
Milwaukee takes Game 1 after blown save by Jeffress
MILWAUKEE Mike Moustakas scored MVP front-runner Christian Yelich with a two-out single in the 10th inning as the Milwaukee Brewers bounced back to beat the Colorado Rockies 3-2 Thursday in their NL Division Series opener.
After giving up two runs in the ninth to make it 2-2, the Brewers regrouped and soon celebrated. Making their first post-season appearance since 2011, they won their ninth straight game overall.
Yelich hit a two-run homer in the third inning, then opened the 10th with a walk against Adam Ottavino. Yelich advanced to second on a wild pitch and came home on Moustakas’ line drive to right field. After almost winning the Triple Crown this year, Yelich got two hits, scored twice and stole a base in his playoff debut.
The Brewers allowed one hit over eight innings in a dominant bullpen game and led 2-0 before closer Jeremy Jeffress gave up three straight singles to open the ninth. Charlie Blackmon had an RBI single shortly after his ground-rule double was overruled on replay review and Nolan Arenado added a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to tie it.
Game 2 is Friday in Milwaukee with Colorado’s Tyler Anderson opposing Jhoulys Chacin. He started Monday when the Brewers beat the Cubs 3-1 in the NL Central tiebreaker in Chicago.
Joakim Soria picked up the win in the opener with a scoreless 10th.
Chants of “Moose!” echoed through the stands as the Brewers celebrated on the field.
This was the just the situation that the Brewers had in mind for Moustakas when they got him from Kansas City in a late July trade. The two-time all-star third baseman had 15 RBIs in 31 post-season games with the Royals.
Back in the post-season for the first time in seven seasons, the Brewers might not be leaving any time soon with the way Yelich keeps getting big hits and a deep bullpen mows down batters.
The big-hitting Rockies, meanwhile, are still struggling to find their stroke. They outlasted the Cubs 2-1 in 13 innings to win the NL wild card game on Tuesday at Wrigley Field and this visit to Miller Park meant them playing in a different city for the fourth time in five days.
DODGERS 6, BRAVES 0
At Los Angeles, Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched seven dominant innings, Max Muncy hit an early, three-run homer as the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 6-0 in their NL Division Series opener.
Picked a surprising Game 1 starter over fellow lefty Clayton Kershaw, Ryu delivered in his first post-season start since 2014. The South Korean allowed four singles — all with two outs — struck out eight and walked none.
The Dodgers set franchise and National League records by hitting 235 homers during the regular season, and their tear continued with three more to begin their playoffs. The defending NL champions actually were outhit 6-5 by Atlanta, but the Braves only got singles.
Game 2 in the best-of-five matchup is Friday at Dodger Stadium, with Kershaw starting for Los Angeles against Anibal Sanchez.