Brewers flip script; come from behind to beat Twins 6-5
Milwaukee, W.I. ~ A day after a heartbreaking loss to the Twins on Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Brewers gave Minnesota a taste of their own medicine this afternoon. Rookie outfielder Trent Grisham blasted a go ahead, 3-run homerun in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Matt Albers locked down a gritty save to give the Brewers a series tie and a winning home stand.
Trailing 5-3 heading into the eighth, the Brewers got a gift when Jorge Polanco made an errant throw on a ground ball, putting Ryan Braun on base to lead off the inning. Hernan Perez then singled up the middle to put runners on the corner for Grisham, who crushed a fastball from Sergio Romo into the right field bleachers.
Alex Claudio got the nod to start the ninth inning, and he did his job, getting Luis Arraez to pop out in foul territory. Craig Counsell then elected for Albers to record the final two outs. After forcing a ground out, Albers got into some trouble, walking the bases loaded on ten straight balls. Albers then retired CJ Cron on a fly ball to centerfield to nail down the victory.
The game was shaky from the get-go until the final out, starting off with a Mitch Garver homer. Three batters later, Eddie Rosario homered to left center field, giving MLB’s homer leading team a 2-0 lead.
Milwaukee got a run back in the bottom half on a base hit by Keston Hiura, but stranded the bases loaded when Lorenzo Cain grounded into double play.
Two outs into the third inning, Minnesota struck again, as Miguel Sano hit a solo shot. In the fourth inning, Gio Gonzalez lost control, allowing two more runs to cross with a two out, two-run double, cementing his worst start as a Brewer. Gonzalez finished with five earned runs in just 3.2 innings.
From then on, the Brewers bullpen pitched lights-out, as Jeremy Jeffress and Ray Black each pitched scoreless innings, sandwiching an Eric Thames RBI single in the fifth inning.
Junior Guerra was on for the seventh and eighth innings, and was dominant sending the Twins down in order.
By Jacob Szczap