KEY POINTS
- Brewers still chasing Wild Card spot as we head into the final weeks of the regular season
- Weekend series win over Yankees
Mitchell Walks Off Yankees
The Brewers welcomed the New York Yankees into town for the first time since Derek Jeter’s farewell tour in 2014. The series started on Friday with Frankie Montas facing off against Adrian Houser. Both starting pitchers got struck early each giving up four earned runs. The game entered the 5th inning in a 5-5 knot and remained that way until the Brewers took a 6-5 lead in the 8th inning. That did not last long since Josh Donaldson hit a solo home run off Taylor Rogers in the top of the 9th inning. During the game up until that point, the Brewers bullpen had shut the Yankees down with nine strikeouts in 12 total outs and had only allowed two hits. The Brewers would come up to bat in the 9th against Yankees reliever Clay Holmes. Hunter Renfroe led off the inning with a double, and Andrew McCutchen and Victor Caratini would both walk to load the bases. Up came Garrett Mitchell – the Brewers outfield prospect called up on August 27 to join the Major League squad. Mitchell showed up big in the most crucial at-bat of his young career. He hit a liner back at the pitcher in a two-out, two-strike count that rolled into the outfield as Renfroe scored from third base for a walk-off win Friday night.
Brewers Take Game Two
The Brewers showed up strong Saturday after their walk-off win the night before with a 4-1 victory behind eight innings of one-run baseball from Brandon Woodruff. He struck out 10 Yankees, and Devin Williams closed the game in the 9th with two strikeouts. The Brewers’ offense came up with big hits at the right time. They only mustered four hits against Yankees starter Jameson Taillon, but Willy Adames sent one over the fence with two runners on base in the 3rd inning. The home run gave Milwaukee a 3-0 lead. The Yankees got one back in the 4th inning, but Christian Yelich followed that up with his deep ball in the 5th, which extended the lead back to three runs. The Brewers would not get another hit for the remainder of the game, but the combination of Woodruff and Williams would shut down the Yankees’ bats. The win injected some life into the players and fans as the prospects of a sweep against the Yankees surrounded the franchise going into Sunday.
Judges Goes Deep Twice
The Brewers had a chance to sweep the Yankees in front of nearly 36,000 fans at American Family Field on Sunday, but they were met by a barrage of home runs from the Yankees. Aaron Judge hit two of New York’s five dingers, pushing his season total to 59. Runs often came early in this matchup as the two clubs combined for 20 runs off 28 hits. Kolten Wong, Tyrone Taylor, and Rowdy Tellez all hit home runs for the Brewers, but ultimately, the Yankees got the better of the Brewers and won the game 12-8, taking the third game of the series. The Brewers came away with an important series win. However, that left them just two games behind Philadelphia in the NL Wild Card race.
New York Again
As the Yankees left town, the other New York baseball team would travel to Milwaukee for a series against the Brewers. The Mets have been scuffling lately but still hold a narrow lead over Atlanta atop the NL East. Both teams are essentially locked into playoff spots, with the team taking second in the division quickly getting the National League’s first Wild Card spot. The Brewers will look to win another series as they continue their hunt for a Wild Card spot.
