Brewers 8, Yankees 2: Offense pours it on late, ties season high with 16 hits

NEW YORK – It took a little while.

But once the Milwaukee Brewers' offense got going on Friday night, it didn't slow down until the game was well in hand.

Of their season-high-tying 16 hits, nine came in the seventh and eighth innings as the Brewers came back from an early deficit to score eight unanswered runs in an 8-2 victory over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

Willy Adames homered in the fourth inning to get Milwaukee onto the scoreboard, then it was station-to-station baseball after that with six different players combining for those nine late hits to methodically put the game out of reach of what had been a hot New York team coming in.

Five players had multi-hit games, with Carlos Santana and Brice Turang collecting three apiece.

The Brewers, meanwhile, gained a full game in the National League Central Division standings with their triumph and the Chicago Cubs losing their second straight game to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"Putting eight runs on the board, that's going to put you in a good spot to win," said manager Craig Counsell. "We did a nice job of just kind of creating opportunities tonight, and finally we broke through."

Textbook seventh inning paves the way

Milwaukee was 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position in a 2-2 game entering the seventh when things quickly turned.

Andruw Monasterio led off with a double, moved to third on a grounder to the right side by Christian Yelich and scored on a single to left by William Contreras – classic baseball from an offense that has struggled mightily in that area at points throughout the season.

But that wouldn't be all.

Contreras took advantage of an unaware Jonathan Loáisiga by stealing second and scored on a Santana single to right. An off-target throw home by Jake Bauers allowed Santana to advance to second and after Sal Frelick moved him to third on a groundout, Adames blooped a double down the right-field line to make it 5-2.

BOX SCORE: Brewers 8, Yankees 2

"I thought William's at-bat against Loáisiga, that's a tough at-bat for a right-hander. And to hang in there and put a pitch in play was, to me, the at-bat of the game," said Counsell. "Some really good stuff after that."

After Trevor Megill retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh, the offense put the finishing touches on the game in the eighth.

Facing Greg Weissert, Mark Canha and Turang singled and Monasterio followed with a double off the base of the wall in left-center that upped Milwaukee's lead to 7-2.

Contreras and Santana then singled to make it an 8-2 game as boos rained down from the Bronx faithful.

"That sort of seems to be the story of our big innings – moving the line," Counsell said. "We did that today with a little bit of everything, and put together two straight innings like that."

By the time all was said and done, the Brewers had won their 10th straight interleague game and tied their previous high for hits in a game with 16 (June 7 vs. Baltimore, Aug. 3 vs. Pittsburgh).

Some good, some bad to start the day

Brewers players and staff were whooping it up in the visiting clubhouse before the game as Arizona's Zac Gallen put the finishing touches on his complete-game victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field, a result that gave Milwaukee an extra half-game of cushion in the Central standings.

Then, batting practice was cancelled and first pitch delayed 15 minutes by rain before the Brewers took the field here for the first time since 2017 and just the third series since the new Yankee Stadium opened in 2009.

Both offenses took a little time to get going, but it was the Yankees who got out on top when Aaron Judge singled with one out in the third and rookie phenom Jasson Dominguez followed by lining a homer to right-center off starter Colin Rea for the game's first runs.

The homer was Dominguez's fourth in just his seventh career game, making him one of only two Yankees players to ever accomplish that feat.

The Brewers answered right back though, as Santana led off the fourth by singling. Two batters later, in an 0-2, count, Adames lined a two-run homer of his own out to nearly the same spot that Dominguez's blast fell to draw even with the Yankees and their starter Luis Severino.

The homer was a little payback for Adames, who was plunked in the left arm by a 94.5-mph fastball in his first plate appearance in the second.

More: Hard-throwing Thyago Vieira is back in the majors for the first time since 2019

Starting pitchers both depart in tie game

Turang opened the fifth with a single off Severino and that pitch proved to be the right-hander's last as he made his way gingerly off the field with what the Yankees announced as an injured side.

Jhony Brito replaced Severino and walked Yelich with one out to put a pair on, but Contreras flew out and Santana struck out.

Rea, making his second start in place of the injured Adrian Houser, recorded the first two outs in the fifth before making way for Abner Uribe to face Judge in a power-versus-power matchup.

In the end the rookie won, as he struck Judge out with a 100.3-mph sinker to keep it a 2-2 game.

"That's one of the top hitters in the game," Counsell said. "In a tie game like that I thought it was a good spot for Abner, and he did a great job shutting it down. Colin getting the first two guys in the inning and not having that be a bat where he can really hurt us was big as well."

Uribe earned his first career victory with 1 ⅓ scoreless innings as he worked around a pair of walks in the sixth.

"To be honest, nothing was going through my mind," Uribe said through translator Carlos Brizuela. "I was just trying to get another out. My first couple pitches were a little quick but my last pitch, I just threw it to see what he had."

Rea retired the final seven batters he faced in his 4 ⅔-inning, 85-pitch start and he also struck out six for the second straight time.

"Colin, kind of a similar start to his last start, really," Counsell said. "Gives up the two runs but is stingy there in the fourth and gets a couple outs in the fifth. Willy's homer put us in a good spot and he did a great job getting the next five outs, then we tacked on late."

Brewers schedule coming up

Saturday – Brewers at Yankees, 1:05 p.m. Milwaukee LHP Wade Miley (7-4, 3.33) vs. New York RHP Michael King (4.5, 2.88). TV: Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers 8, Yankees 2: Offense pours it on late, ties season high with 16 hits