Eric Sogard homer leads Brewers to walk-off win

W: Devin Williams (2-1)
L: Richard Rodriguez (0-2)

HR: Christian Yelich (8), Josh Bell (3), Orlando Arcia (2), Eric Sogard (1)

Eric Sogard slapped a two-run homer to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 7-6 walk-off victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The first inning started out rocky for Brewers’ starter Brett Anderson. He gave up back-to-back singles to the Pirates to start the game. An easy roller to third base allowed the Brewers to get the lead runner out, but Josh Bell would hit a sac fly to take the early 1-0 lead.

Luckily for the Brewers, Christian Yelich had been putting in work. The MVP slugger worked with hitter coach Andy Haines on his struggles to try to pull himself out of a massive slump. That hard work came with good results, as Yeli hit a massive 460 foot homer to tie the game back up. Milwaukee then took the lead in the bottom of the second after a two-out Luis Urias bases-loaded walk.

Pittsburgh certainly wasn’t done though. With a runner on and two outs, Brett Anderson gave up a double to Jacob Stallings to tie the game at 2-2. In the fifth, Kevin Newman drove in a run on a sac fly and Josh Bell hit a line-drive, first-pitch homer to take the 4-2 lead.

Milwaukee chipped away at the lead on an Orlando Arcia homer to center field in the seventh. In the eighth inning, the Brewers immediately got two on following a Yeli double and a Keston Hiura hit by pitch. Jedd Gyorko and Ryan Braun would pinch hit, but to no avail. Finally, Avisail Garcia came up with two on and hit a double that just cleared the left field foul line. The hit scored two and Milwaukee had a 5-4 lead.

That’s when things got odd. Josh Hader came out to shut the game down, which is normally the surest thing you can ask for, but Hader couldn’t find the zone. He walked five of the six hitters he faced, giving the Pirates back a 6-5 lead without Pittsburgh having to produce a hit. Craig Counsell replaced Hader with Devin Williams, who somehow managed to escape without further damage.

The bottom of the order started the bottom of the ninth against Richard Rodriguez. The Pirates closer walked Jace Peterson to leadoff the inning. Then, as if God refused to let the Brewers lose, a miracle happened. Eric Sogard, the .179 average, .532 OPS Eric Sogard decided to shine. He launched his first homer of the season into right field to walk it off for the Brewers.

The Brewers will send Brandon Woodruff (2-2, 3.19 ERA) to the mound to secure the sweep tomorrow. He’ll go against Steven Brault (0-1, 4.80 ERA). First pitch is at 1:10 p.m.