The Milwaukee Brewers would not be denied a victory against the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.
After suffering an 8-6 series-opening loss to the Minnesota Twins on Friday, the Milwaukee Brewers evened the series up on Saturday with a 4-3 win.
For the Brewers to end up on the winning side of Saturday’s contest, it took a come-from-behind effort.
Milwaukee drew first blood when a leadoff double by Brice Turang in the bottom of the first inning was followed by Jackson Chourio drawing a walk before Jake Bauers singled to load the bases. Then, William Contreras was hit by a pitch that brought Turang home.
However, it did not take long for Minnesota to strike back, and its batting order made Brewers lefty Robert Gasser pay in the top of the second when Luke Keaschall hit a ground-rule double, and Gasser hit Kaelen Culpepper with a pitch.
After notching two outs, Gasser made another errant pitch that hit Austin Martin before walking Ryan Jeffers. By walking Jeffers, Keaschall scored.
Then, Royce Lewis added insult to injury for Gasser and Milwaukee’s defense when he hit a two-RBI double to cap off a three-run frame for Minnesota.
But just as it had not taken long for the Twins to respond, the Brewers also had an answer quickly.
Neither team was able to score in the third inning, but Milwaukee put two runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a successful small-ball approach in which Andrew Vaughn and Christian Yelich singled before David Hamilton drew a walk to load the bases. That set Turang up for a two-RBI single to tie the game.
Throughout the year, the Brewers have either used crushing innings to get back into or take over games, and they have used methodical approaches to incrementally pull the results in their favor. This type of consistent production is what has given Milwaukee the best record in baseball, and Saturday was no exception.
The winning plays for the Brewers came in the eighth, when Contreras hit a leadoff single to get things going. Manager Pat Murphy chose to make Brandon Lockridge the pinch runner, and it paid off when Lockridge stole second base.
That move set up Vaughn to be the hero, and he delivered with an RBI single to give his team a 4-3 lead. In the top of the ninth, closer Trevor Megill sealed the deal by sending the Twins down in order.
The Brewers could have very easily been on the losing side of this series, but the grit and determination that is imbued in this team rose to the surface yet again and made a winning impact.
