Home run derby breaks out in Milwaukee, Yankees take series finale over Brewers, 12-8

Box Score

It was an offense-filled day in Milwaukee. The Brewers and Yankees brought their bats today, but the Yankees had a bit more in them. After eight home runs and 28 hits between the two foes, the Brewers came up short, falling to the Yankees 12-8.

The game started out well for the Brewers. After Jason Alexander escaped an early jam with a strike out/throw out for a scoreless first inning, the Brewers drew two walks before Kolten Wong came to the plate with two outs. He gave the Brewers the early lead, hitting a home run to right field that put the Brewers ahead 3-0.

Oswaldo Cabrera put the Yankees on the board in the second with a solo home run to center field. Tyrone Taylor countered that in the bottom of the second with his own home run to center field, and the Brewers lead increased to 4-1.

The Yankees countered again in the third, adding on two more solo home runs from Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo. The Brewers still held the lead at 4-3, but their offense started to quiet down from there. They went down in order in the third, and then both teams had an unusually quiet fourth inning. Jason Alexander’s day ended after 3 ²⁄₃ innings, allowing six hits, three of which were solo home runs. Hoby Milner finished the fourth for the Brewers with a flyout.

In the fifth, the Yankees took control of the game. Judge led off with a walk, then Rizzo singled to put two runners on base. That ended Milner’s day, and Justin Topa came in to relieve him. After a flyout from Gleyber Torres, Josh Donaldson walked to load the bases. Giancarlo Stanton hit a ground ball to Luis Urias, and he threw to Wong at second going for the double play. However, Wong missed the catch, and everyone was safe. The bases were still loaded and the game was now tied at 4-4.

Brent Suter came on in relief to try to keep it a tie game, but the Yankees kept hitting. Cabrera singled to put the Yankees ahead 5-4. Isiah Kiner-Falefa lined out for the second out, then Kyle Higashioka singled to drive in another two runs, and the Yankees boosted their lead to 7-4. Suter got a strikeout of Aaron Hicks to end the inning, but the Yankees were now up by three runs.

The Brewers tried to respond in the bottom of the fifth, as Taylor doubled and Christian Yelich walked. Willy Adames then grounded into a force out to move the runners up, but Rowdy Tellez and Hunter Renfroe both struck out to end the inning.

Luis Perdomo took the sixth and worked around a single and walk for a scoreless inning. Meanwhile, Clarke Schmidt replaced Yankees starter Gerrit Cole in the sixth, and he also pitched a scoreless inning. Perdomo remained in for the seventh, and the Yankees added on from there. Cabrera doubled to lead off the inning, moved up to third on a groundout, and then scored on another groundout by Higashioka. They then added on solo home runs from Hicks and Judge, increasing the Yankees lead to 10-4.

The Brewers didn’t give up, adding on more runs in the eighth inning. Adames led off the eighth with a double, and Tellez hit a home run to close the gap to 10-6.

Renfroe and Urias then singled with one out to put two more runners on base, giving the Brewers another chance to score. Unfortunately, they couldn’t take advantage, as Hiura grounded out and Narvaez lined out to end the eighth.

The Yankees responded again in the top of the ninth, as Judge drove more runs in with an RBI double to increase the lead to 12-6. The Brewers had one last chance in the bottom of the inning, and three straight singles off of Wandy Peralta loaded the bases with no outs for the Brewers. Clay Holmes came in after that, and pinch hitter Jace Peterson doubled to cut the deficit to 12-8. Unfortunately, the Brewers couldn’t get any closer, and they lost to the Yankees.

Kolten Wong led the Brewers offense with a 3-for-4 day with three RBI, and Tyrone Taylor also had a 3-for-4 day. Unfortunately, the Yankees offense was better, with a 4-for-5 day from Aaron Judge. They couldn’t stop him from adding to his home run total in the series, increasing it to 59 and putting him within two of tying the AL record held by fellow Yankee Roger Maris.

In the Wild Card race, the Padres completed a sweep of the Diamondbacks, while the Phillies were swept by the Braves. The Padres moved ahead of the Phillies in the Wild Card standings, and the Brewers now trail the Phillies by two games.

Next up for the Brewers is a series against the Mets, while the Padres play the Cardinals and the Phillies play the Blue Jays. It’s a battle of aces on Monday night as Corbin Burnes and Max Scherzer face off in the first game of the series. First pitch is at 6:40 PM, and the game will be on Bally Sports Wisconsin and MLB Network (out of market).