Crew survives big scare in the ninth inning
ARLINGTON, Tex. – What a difference a night makes.
After beeing completely shut down in a three-game sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Milwaukee Brewers offense finally came alive.
Sparked by a go-ahead, three-run home run in the seventh off the bat of Carlos Santana, the Brewers pounded out 14 hits and ended up needing every one of them in dispatching the American League West-leading Texas Rangers, 9-8, at Globe Life Field on Friday.
“It goes in the win column and doesn’t really matter how it looks,” said manager Craig Counsell. “We scored some runs today, and after struggling in LA to score runs, that feels good, too. But (Texas) is a very good offensive team.”
Seven starting position players had at least one hit while William Contreras, Willy Adames and Brice Turang had three apiece. Contreras also drove in three runs and Christian Yelich reached base four times as Milwaukee maintained its two-game lead over the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Central standings and opened its lead to three games over the Chicago Cubs.
The meeting was the first between the Brewers and Rangers since Aug. 9-11, 2019, and the teams’ first in Texas since Sept. 26-28, 2016, with that series being played at the old Ballpark in Arlington.
Game flips quickly in the seventh
After a three-run third, Milwaukee had managed two baserunners from the fourth through the sixth in falling behing, 4-3, until quickly kicking it back into gear with the bats.
Facing Josh Sborz, Yelich walked, Contreras singled and Santana followed with a three-run homer to right – his fifth since joining the Brewers via trade on July 27. No other Milwaukee player has hit more than two over that span.
“Carlos’s home run was his second huge home run on the road trip,” noted Counsell. Santana’s three-run homer in the eighth helped seal Milwaukee’s sweep-clinching victory over the Chicago White Sox last Sunday.
The Brewers then added some rare tack-on runs in the eighth by loading the bases with one out — Texas elected to walk Yelich intentionally to set up the double play — and getting a two-run chopper to center field off the bat of Contreras to make it an 8-4 game.
A Mark Canha groundout two batters later plated the Brewers’ final run.
Brewers sweat last-gasp effort
The trouble started quickly with Andrew Chafin on the mound, as he allowed three of the four batters he faced to reach and two to score, forcing Counsell to go to closer Devin Williams.
Acquired on Aug. 1 to help bolster the bullpen, the left-handed Chafin has instead pitched to an 11.81 ERA and WHIP of 1.88 in seven appearances.
“We’ve got to try and get him straightened out,” Counsell said. “It’s a combination of things. We’ve got to get him on the edges more and his slider going — that’s the bread and butter — and get him ahead in counts so he can get to that pitch.”
Williams was greeted by a double by Travis Jankowski, who then moved up to third on a wild pitch and scored on a
Marcus Semien groundout. Third baseman Andruw Monasterio made a nice play on the hard-hit ball, and then a strong throw over to first for the out.
With the score 9-8, Corey Seager stepped to the plate and sent a long drive to center field that Sal Frelick was able to reel in with a leaping grab at the wall. The ball wouldn’t have gone out but certainly would have been for extra bases.
The ball would have been a homer in 18 other ballparks, however.
“We were no-doubles (alignment), so I was already back,” Frelick said. “I was in the gap and had to run to the other side. He hit it up high enough where there was plenty of time to go over and make a grab.”
Finally, offense awakens – for a bit
Coming off a three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium in which they scored a total of three runs on 10 hits, the Brewers singled three times in the first two innings against left-hander Andrew Heaney but had nothing to show for it until finally breaking through in the third.
Consecutive doubles by Yelich and Contreras got Milwaukee onto the board. Two batters later Canha doubled in Contreras, then with Canha going on the pitch Adames lined a single to left to drive him in and make it 3-0.
The three-run inning was the Brewers’ biggest since last Sunday when they put up three in the eighth inning en route to sweeping the Chicago White Sox at the outset of this three-city, nine-game trip.
Little did they know they’d follow with three runs in the seventh and eighth as well.
“We did a really good job on offense today,” Counsell said. “There were a lot of pressure innings this game. We did a nice job of that. Brice had a bunch of hits, Tyrone had a big double to get an inning going. Willy and Yeli had big days, too.”
Heaney, who struck out 10 Milwaukee batters in consecutive starts last August while with the Dodgers, failed to finish the fourth and struck out only three on 84 pitches.
Texas gets to Woodruff in fourth
Brandon Woodruff, meanwhile, was in the midst of an unusual start in that he didn’t record his first strikeout until the fourth inning — a frame in which Texas wrested momentum back from the righthander.
The trouble started in the form of a 12pitch leadoff walk issued to Seager, and Nathaniel Lowe followed by homering just over the wall in left field for a tworun, opposite field homer.
Two batters later Mitch Garver took Woodruff out to left on another fastball left out over the heart of the plate, drawing the Rangers even at 3-3.
Woodruff bounced back by striking out a pair in a 13-pitch, 1-2-3 fifth but a leadoff double by Seager in the sixth ultimately led to his departure after 92 pitches. He’d thrown 85 and 86, respectively, in his previous two starts since being reinstated from the injured list.
“I’m still working through some stuff mechanically to sync up,” Woodruff said. “It got better but with this lineup, you’ve just got to pitch. Overall, I felt pretty good. Got better as the game went on. I’ve got to keep making some adjustments to home in, get ahead early and use the fastball the way I want to.
“But I felt good. I boxed myself into some corners a few times, and they were able to put some good swings on some balls.”
Elvis Peguero (3-4) took over and was greeted by an Adolis García single that plated Seager and gave Texas its first lead.
Rowdy Tellez is back
Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Rowdy Tellez has rejoined the team after six weeks on the injured list.
The Brewers announced before their Saturday game with the Texas Rangers that they have reinstated Tellez and optioned infielder Abraham Toro to Triple-A Nashville.
Tellez has been on the IL — first with right forearm soreness and then a broken/lacerated left ring finger — since July 5. He hit .226 with a homer and five runs batted in over 31 at-bats in eight games with Nashville.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.