Brewers storm back to edge Reds
Yasmani Grandal’s home run helped the Brewers get back in the game. But it was a bizarre double play the Milwaukee catcher started on a pitch that got past him that really saved the day.
The Brewers overcame an early five-run deficit and outlasted the Cincinnati Reds 11-9 Wednesday, with Grandal in the thick of things.
In the sixth, Grandal hit a tying, two-run homer. The Brewers then tacked on three more runs in the inning for an 11-8 lead.
The Reds scored once in the seventh and had the bases loaded with one out. Reliever Jeremy Jeffress struck out Phillip Ervin swinging, but the ball zipped past Grandal. Fortunately for the Brewers, the ball caromed off the back wall and right back to Grandal.
“The ball gets past the catcher and a lot of times as a runner, you just react,” Reds manager David Bell said.
Curt Casali took off from first, assuming all the runners would advance. Derek Dietrich, however, stayed at third, seeing the ball ricochet to Grandal.
Grandal threw down to first and Casali was tagged out after a rundown.
“That’s a play we work on every day,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said, laughing. “We caught a break there, 100 percent.”
The Brewers, shut out for the first time this season in a 3-0 loss to the Reds on Tuesday, played their second straight game without Christian Yelich. The 2018 NL MVP was out with back spasms, and it isn’t known yet when he’ll return.
Yelich will “go through a bunch of treatments today and see how he is,” Counsell said before the game. “He’s had some muscle issues in his back but they’ve been short-term, five-day injuries. That’s not a chronic characterization, for me.”
Padres 5, Diamondbacks 2: Left-hander Eric Lauer pitched seven strong innings to win for the first time in seven starts and Greg Garcia had three hits, scored twice and drove in a run for his hometown San Diego Padres, who beat visiting Arizona for a three-game sweep.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Athletics 7, Indians 2: Frankie Montas pitched six scoreless innings, Mark Canha homered and drove in three runs and Oakland extended its winning streak to six by beating host Cleveland and reach the .500 mark for the first time since April 26
The Athletics completed a 6-2 road trip and have won 10 of their last 14. Those numbers don’t include a game last weekend that was suspended in Detroit with the A’s leading 5-3 in the seventh inning.
Rangers 2, Mariners 1: Hunter Pence homered, Adrian Sampson had another impressive long outing for a victory after not starting, and host Texas beat slumping Seattle to complete a three-game sweep. The Mariners have lost 27 of 37 games to fall to the bottom of the AL West standings since starting the season 13-2.
Twins at Angels, ppd.: The series finale between Minnesota and Los Angeles was postponed because of weather and rescheduled for Thursday. It is only the third postponement at Angel Stadium since 1995 and the 12th since the stadium opened in 1966. The last postponement occurred on July 19, 2015, against Boston.
INTERLEAGUE
Rays 8, Dodgers 1: Avisail Garcia and Kevin Kiermaier each hit a threerun homer in the seventh inning to power host Tampa Bay past Los Angeles.
Royals 8, Cardinals 2: Brad Keller pitched sevenplus innings of two-hit baseball, Jorge Soler hit a three-run homer and Kansas City beat host St. Louis in the first game of a doubleheader.
BRAVES PICK APPEARS HEADED TO JAPAN
After failing to sign with Atlanta and losing a grievance against the Braves, 19-year-old right-hander Carter Stewart has agreed to a six-year contract with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Japan’s Pacific League that will guarantee $6 million to $7 million, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the deal had not been finalized. The deal will be subject to Stewart obtaining a Japanese work visa, which probably occur in early June.
Stewart would have been eligible for next month’s amateur draft. He was 2-2 with a 1.70 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 74 innings this year at Eastern Florida State College.
He was selected by the Braves with the eighth overall pick in last year’s draft from Eau Gallie High School in Florida, and negotiations were complicated by a wrist injury.
ELSEWHERE
Orioles-Mets trade: Baltimore bolstered its outfield defense by acquiring Keon Broxton, 29, from New York for $500,000 in 2019-20 international signing bonus pool allotment.
Yankees: Outfielder Giancarlo Stanton took a step back in his return from strained left biceps and a strained left shoulder injury and won’t play in any rehabilitation games for seven to 10 days because of left calf tightness.