W: Mike McClendon (1-0)
L: Felipe Paulino (0-4)
HR: Jason Hammel (1), Jason Giambi (5), Casey McGehee (4), Yuniesky Betancourt (3), Prince Fielder (10)
MVP: Prince Fielder (+.576)
LVP: Corey Hart (-.407)
Win Expectancy Graph and Star of the Game Voting
If you stayed up for this one, you weren’t disappointed. Prince Fielder put on his Superman cape and crushed a two-run homer to deep right field to give Milwaukee a 7-6 come-from-behind, walk-off victory against the Colorado Rockies in fourteen innings on Friday night. But it sure didn’t look good for The Crew for most of the night.
After clawing back from a 2-4 deficit and sending the game into extra innings, and then tying the game again in the thirteenth inning, the Brewers seemed to let the game slip away in the fourteenth inning. Yuniesky Betancourt tied the game at 5 with a towering solo shot in the bottom of the thirteenth inning but then booted a double play ball in the fourteenth that led to another one-run lead for Colorado.
Corey Hart grounded out to start the bottom of the fourteenth, and then Felipe Paulino walked Ryan Braun to set the table for Fielder. Paulino threw over to first once to keep the potential tying run on first and then delivered a pitch to the inside corner of the plate that Fielder turned on and smoked 450 feet for the win.
Earlier in the night, Casey McGehee delivered a game-tying home run in the eighth inning and Jonathan Lucroy added a pinch-hit RBI single in the sixth inning.
By the time the game ended in the fourteenth inning, the starts of Zack Greinke and Jason "Hammels" Hammel seemed like distant memories. Greinke went 6 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits, while striking out nine and walking none. The two big blows against Greinke came off the bats of the pitcher, Hammel, and the red-hot Jason Giambi, who both hit homers.
After being shutout last night in San Diego, Milwaukee took no chances when Rickie Weeks hit a leadoff double in the first inning. Hart bunted him to third and he scored on a ground ball from Braun. But after taking a 1-0 first inning lead, the Brewers had to fight back all night despite the fact that Todd Helton did not play and Carlos Gonzalez made only a pinch-hit appearance.
With the Brewers returning from San Diego at around 5:30 a.m. this morning, they had to dig deep to gut out this victory. The Brewers used nineteen players, including six pitchers, in a game that lasted 4:35. LaTroy Hawkins and Kam Loe each pitched two scoreless innings and John Axford pitched a scoreless ninth inning to keep the Brewers close.
Heckuva way to start the home stand. Tonight's game was the first of nine at Miller Park.