Command performance
Big-time efforts help Milwaukee take a 2-0 lead in series
And the beat goes on.
With all the pieces once again coming together Friday, the Milwaukee Brewers rattled off their 10th consecutive win in their biggest game to date.
Jhoulys Chacín delivered five clutch shutout innings on short rest, Mike Moustakas and Erik Kratz provided some much-needed breathing room with huge hits in the eighth and Jeremy Jeffress redeemed himself with two strong innings in crunch time.
Each of those performances combined for a 4-0 Brewers shutout of the Colorado Rockies in Game 2 of the National League Division Series at Miller Park, leaving Milwaukee one victory shy of advancing to the NL Championship Series as this series shifts to Denver.
“That’s huge, coming into their park 2-0,” said Moustakas. “We’ve still got to go out there and compete. We can’t take any of those games off. That’s a great ballclub over there. You can’t leave any openings for them. You’ve got to keep putting the pressure on them.
“Playoff baseball is insane. I’ve seen some crazy stuff. You’ve got to go out there like it’s a new day and like the series is tied.”
The 10 victories in a row is tied for second-most in franchise history and the longest since the 2003 regular season. The playoff shutout, meanwhile, was just the second ever for the Brewers and the first since Game 1 of the 1982 World Series, when they blanked the St. Louis Car-
dinals, 10-0.
With the Brewers holding a 1-0 lead heading into the eighth and already having used Corey Knebel, Joakim Soria and Josh Hader, manager Craig Counsell showed no hesitation in handing the ball to Jeffress.
And if there were any lingering effects from the tough ninth inning he endured Thursday – when Colorado scored twice against him to send the game to extra innings – Jeffress didn’t show it.
He negated a one-out single by Nolan Arenado by getting Carlos González to line out to third and striking out Trevor Story on a big breaking ball he spiked well in front of the plate with Arenado running on the pitch.
“It’s great, the confidence — I can’t put it into words — that Counsell has in me,” Jeffress said. “I’m gracious.”
Jeffress got some huge insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, with the Brewers finally cashing in after several missed opportunities.
Christian Yelich started things off by drawing a walk, then Ryan Braun punched a single to the right side off Seunghwan Oh.
Jesús Aguilar loaded the bases with another walk, then Moustakas delivered his second huge hit of the series by singling to right to plate Yelich to make it 2-0. It was his single in the 10th that gave Milwaukee a 3-2 win in Game 1.
“Get a good pitch and put the ball in play,” Moustakas said. “I knew they had the infield in, so just try and get something driven through the infield and score that run and keep adding runs on.”
Oh struck out Hernán Pérez and Chris Rusin struck out Travis Shaw, leaving the inning in the hands of Kratz.
To the delight of the sellout crowd of 44,547, he delivered the biggest hit of his life by dunking a two-RBI, brokenbat single into short left field that scored Braun and pinch-runner Orlando Arcia to double the lead to 4-0.
It also capped a banner day for the bottom of Milwaukee’s lineup, as the team’s 5-8 hitters combined for eight hits and scored all four runs.
“That’s a really great thing, and I think that points to the depth of our team,” Counsell said. “Those guys set the tone, man. They did a nice job. That was pressure. The bottom of the lineup putting pressure on the other team is going to spell good things for us.”
Jeffress finished up the ninth with no difficulty, and just like that the Brewers had locked down their second straight win after silencing the normally offensively potent Rockies.
“Seeing J.J. come back out after giving up two runs last night and throwing two innings tonight and picking the boys up, that’s the best,” Kratz said. “That’s the playoffs. I love it.”
Friday marked first time Chacín had made consecutive starts on short rest in his 10-year career in the major leagues. And the Rockies — his former team — made him work from the outset.
But he was up to the challenge and got through five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out three in his 85-pitch outing. He hadn’t thrown more than 83 in a start since Aug. 31.
His five scoreless innings were the second-most by a Brewer in the postseason, with Mike Caldwell’s completegame shutout in Game 1 of the 1982 World Series setting the bar.
“If you give up no runs in five innings, that’s exceeding expectations,” Counsell said. “He was magnificent. Short rest, five innings — that’s exactly what we needed and wanted.”
Colorado left-hander Tyler Anderson came into the day having tied with Chase Anderson for the NL lead in homers allowed with 30. He didn’t allow his first base-runner until the third, however, and allowed just one run and four hits over six innings.
Knebel struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 sixth, and Soria and Hader combined on a scoreless seventh. Soria had two strikeouts and Hader, pitching for the second consecutive day for just the sixth time this season, stranded the tying runner on third.
“We’ve continued to make pitches,” Counsell said. “The pitching has worked together as a team as out-getters and done a wonderful job.”
Milwaukee missed another golden opportunity to tack onto its lead in the bottom of the seventh when Pérez greeted Scott Oberg with his second double and Shaw singled to right.
Third-base coach Ed Sedar held Pérez at third with the strong-armed González in right. It didn’t work out as planned, though, when Kratz, pinchhitter Jonathan Schoop and Lorenzo Cain all struck out swinging.
“There’s some good pitchers throwing pretty good stuff in those innings, and contact has been a problem in those spots, for sure,” said Counsell. “In the eighth we broke through a little bit and some guys had some good at-bats.
“But this is what you expect. You’re going to get tough matchups. You’re going to get relievers with strikeout stuff, and we’re seeing the value of that.”
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
LAYING THE FOUNDATION: Counsell has talked in the past about the biggest influences on his managerial career, and he expounded on that a little more before the game Friday.
“I’m a product of my experiences and the people that I’ve been around and the people I’ve watched do this job... largely from when I was a player,” Counsell said. “I would specifically mention Jim Leyland and Bob Melvin as people who I tried to soak everything in that they did. And Bob Melvin, I was playing for him, but he kind of allowed me behind the curtain of managing as a player, which was a rare opportunity, and he took the time to explain things to me about why this and why that and what I’m thinking here. That sometimes is hard to figure out as a player. And so I always appreciated that, and that’s always meant a lot to me.”
BEEN THERE BEFORE: The Brewers finished the regular season tied for the second-most walk-off wins in the major leagues with 10 (joining Oakland and San Francisco), so perhaps it was fitting they opened the postseason with another on Moustakas’ game-winning single in the 10th inning in Game 1.
“We’ve been down before, and we’ve come back from multiple runs down in the ninth inning during the regular season, so that can benefit us,” Shaw said. “I feel like we’re never out of the game.”
NELSON RETURNS: Right-hander Jimmy Nelson, who missed the entire
season while recovering from major shoulder surgery, rejoined the club after finishing a throwing program at the Brewers’ Maryvale training complex in Phoenix. The plan was for Nelson’s program to conclude with pitching in an intrasquad game, but torrential rains nixed that assignment and he finished with a simulated game instead.
“He did great,” said assistant farm director Eduardo Brizuela, who oversees the Maryvale facility. “He was very positive and was a good influence on the younger players. He was awesome with them. Now he’ll have a normal off-season, and that’s important.”
MATCHING UP: While on the surface the decision to start the left-handed-hitting Shaw at second base over the right-handed Schoop with Anderson on the mound might have seemed unusual, Shaw entered the game with tremendous numbers against the lefty this season – a .600 average, two doubles, a homer (grand slam) and six runs batted in.
NEW LEADER: With two hits Thursday, Braun became the franchise’s alltime postseason hits leader with 24. He had been tied with Robin Yount and Paul Molitor, who each had 22. Braun entered Friday as a career .381 hitter with two homers and 12 runs RBI in the playoffs.
COMING UP
Saturday: Off-day.
Sunday: Brewers at Rockies, 3:37 p.m. Milwaukee LHP Wade Miley (5-2, 2.57) vs. Colorado RHP German Márquez (14-11, 3.77). TV: MLB Network. Radio: AM-620.