W: David Phelps (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
L: Dovydas Neverauskas (0-1, 0.00 ERA)
HOUR: Colin Moran 2 (3)
For the first time since 2004, the Milwaukee Brewers returned from a deficit of four or more runs in the ninth inning to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The game started sloppy for both slides. After just one and a half innings, it went into a rain delay of almost two hours. Somehow, Brewers starter Adrian Houser came back from the delay after pitching an inning and started again. He was greeted by Colin Moran, who hit his first of the game’s two home runs.
After that slight inconvenience, it was clear to Adrian Houser. He made no other hit and struck out four overall in his five innings.
The Brewers finally made it to the board in the seventh inning thanks to Lorenzo Cain. Avisail García started the inning with a double. Lorenzo Cain came to the plate three batters later and racked up a two-out RBI to tie the game at one.
Unfortunately, the bullpen fell apart after the tie. Devin Williams came out for a second inning of work at the end of the seventh. After leaving, Colin Moran hit his second home run, a monster shot that came out of the stadium. A walk and a fielding error made by Williams himself brought a pitch change and Alex Claudio to the mound. Claudio immediately struck out Gregory Polanco, but walked to the next batter to load the bases. The Pirates followed with a two-RBI single. Pittsburgh’s final run came on a wild pitch from Claudio that allowed a running back to score from the third.
Things seemed bleak after that to the Brewers. A useless eighth inning led to the ninth. Fortunately, the Pirates’ bullpen is trash. Justin Smoak started things off with a single to get Milwaukee’s first onboard racer. Eric Sogard walked with one to put two on board for Lorenzo Cain. Cain hit a single single that would establish a base loading situation for Keston Hiura, the tying run. Hiura’s jersey was grazed by a pitch, driving in one run and leading the Milwaukee Nine to three runs. Christian Yelich then hit a slow roll to the first that forced Josh Bell to take the easy out at first base and ignore the double game opportunity. The Brewers were now two. Ryan Braun arrived at the plate ready to show that he is still as attached as ever. After two of the worst attack calls we would ever see from an area that was miserable the entire game, Brauny hit a double on the line, plating Cain and Hiura and tying up the game.
The tenth inning would be unsuccessful for either team even though a runner now begins the inning at second base. In the eleventh, Eric Sogard started with a double shooter that led Brock Holt and gave the Brewers the lead.
David Phelps pitched the tenth and eleventh for Milwaukee after Hader had a clean ninth inning. The newcomer had two perfect innings and struck out three for his first Brew and Win of the Year.
Milwaukee stays in Pittsburgh for a 6:05 pm game tomorrow. Newcomer Josh Lindblom makes his Blue and Gold debut against Derek Holland.
