Big seventh inning helps Brewers to overcome a four-run deficit and beat the Diamondbacks
A four-run deficit was a guaranteed loss for the Milwaukee Brewers – until Tuesday night.
Some terrific hustle on the bases and a timely double by William Contreras highlighted a four-run seventh inning and propelled the Brewers to a 7-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at American Family Field.
Jesse Winker also hit his first home run as Milwaukee posted its largest comeback of the season, bettering the three-run lead it overcame in an eventual 9-6 victory over the Kansas City Royals on May 14.
The tenor of the game changed in the seventh – and with some rare lucky breaks for the Brewers, who were trailing 5-3 and were down 4-0 heading into the bottom of the second.
Luis Urías began the rally with a leadoff walk and Blake Perkins and Joey Wiemer each followed with well-placed infield singles to load the bases for Christian Yelich.
Austin Adames was replaced at that point by left-hander Kyle Nelson, who got Yelich to tap back to the mound as Urías crossed the plate.
Contreras, next up, drilled a two-run double into the gap in left-center that gave Milwaukee its first lead of the game at 6-5 and electrified both the crowd and the Brewers dugout.
Box score: Brewers 7, Diamondbacks 5
Owen Miller, pinch-hitting for Rowdy Tellez, then singled to left and Willy Adames, hustling hard on a ground ball that could have been a rally killing double play, beat the relay throw to first as Contreras scored to make it 7-5.
Joel Payamps struck out three in a scoreless eighth and Devin Williams registered his 13th save with a game-ending double play started by Owen Miller at first base being confirmed on a replay challenge.
For the second consecutive night, the first inning vexed Milwaukee pitching.
This time it was Colin Rea, who surrendered a ground-rule double, and pair of singles in succession to allow Arizona to grab a 1-0 lead four batters in.
That came on the heels of a six-run Diamondbacks first against Corbin Burnes which paved the way to a 9-1 blowout loss in Monday's game.
Rea righted the ship and kept the damage to the lone run in the first but the second was a different story as a double and walk allowed to the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters allowed Arizona to turn its lineup over.
Geraldo Perdomo was called out on strikes to get Rea one out away from posting a zero, but Ketel Marte hit a three-run homer off the facing of the second deck in right and the deficit grew to 4-0 for the Brewers.
Milwaukee finally sustained some offense in the bottom of the frame but was able to manage only a run out of a Adames single and then consecutive one-out doubles by Brian Anderson and Urías.
The two-bagger by Urías plated Adames and probably should have scored Anderson as well, but Anderson broke back toward second base with the thinking that Corbin Carroll might make a leaping catch at the left-field wall.
The Brewers drew closer in the fourth when Adames – hitting just .202 coming in – singled for the second time in as many at-bats and Winker followed with a booming homer to center that made it 4-3.
Winker entered the game hitting just .197 and had struck out in his first at-bat against Ryne Nelson before sending a 93-mph fastball 416 feet out.
Three singles in the sixth netted the Diamondbacks another run with Jake McCarthy's chopper up the middle glancing off the glove of a diving Urías at second to score Evan Longoria and make it 5-3.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Big seventh inning helps Brewers overcome deficit, beat Diamondbacks
