Tyrone Taylor’s big night leads Brewers to comeback win over Diamondbacks, 8-6

Box Score

Tyrone Taylor fronted an offensive outburst that helped the Brewers defeat the Diamondbacks 8-6 in a comeback effort on Saturday night.

Taylor went 3-for-5 with a double and two home runs, the second of which put the Brewers on top for good in the 10th inning.

Corbin Burnes’ second-half struggles continued, as he allowed five runs (all earned) on seven hits and three walks with five strikeouts in 5 ²⁄₃ innings.

The Brewers’ offense did their best to support their struggling ace. After the Diamondbacks got on the board with a Corbin Carroll single in the first inning, the Brewers answered with a two-run double by Victor Caratini to take a 2-1 lead.

This began the back-and-forth nature of the game. On three occasions, the Brewers staked Burnes to a lead only for him to give it up the following inning.

In the bottom of the second, he loaded the bases with one out, allowing Arizona to tie the game 2-2 on a sacrifice fly by Daulton Varsho.

The Brewers broke the tie in the top of the fifth. With runners on the corners, Keston Hiura hit a roller to second base that ate up Josh Rojas, allowing Willy Adames to score from third to make it a 3-2 game.

That lead quickly evaporated when Burnes allowed a solo home run to Varsho to tie the game at three.

Milwaukee reclaimed the lead once again on Taylor’s first blast of the night, a solo shot to right field that made the score 4-3 Brewers.

It seemed as though Burnes was going to keep his team on top for good, recording the first two outs of the bottom of the sixth in order. That changed when a base hit by Alek Thomas and a double by former Brewers farmhand Cooper Hummel tied the game at four.

Those hits knocked Burnes out of the game, and he was relieved by Brad Boxberger.

The damage did not cease, as Boxberger allowed consecutive singles to Geraldo Perdomo and Rojas to tack on two more runs and make it a 6-4 Arizona lead. He then fanned Varsho to end the frame.

The Brewers continued to chip away, adding a run in the eighth on a base hit to left field by Andrew McCutchen to drive in Jace Peterson.

Peterson was initially ruled out at the plate, but a replay review confirmed that he was safe, and the call was overturned to make it 6-5.

Rowdy Tellez came off the bench to pinch-hit for Luis Urias in the ninth, and he smoked a 1-2 fastball from Ian Kennedy for a game-tying home run.

It was Tellez’s third game-tying blast in the ninth inning of a game since the start of August.

A scoreless inning from Devin Williams sent the game to extra innings, where Taylor delivered his second home run of the night, a two-run shot in the tenth that made it 8-6 Brewers.

That’s where the score held. Taylor Rogers flashed some added velocity in a perfect inning en route to his second save as a member of the Brewers.

Rogers has worked eight consecutive outings without allowing an earned run since a four-run meltdown against the St. Louis Cardinals on August 14.

The win inspires renewed hope for the Brewers in the Wild Card race.

Both the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies lost on Saturday, so the Brewers now sit 2.5 games out of the third Wild Card spot.

It is worth noting that because both the Phillies and Padres hold the tiebreaker over the Brewers, Milwaukee will need to finish ahead of them rather than tie, so they are effectively 3.5 games back.

The Brewers will look to salvage a series split with another win tomorrow, but they face a tough matchup in Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen. Jason Alexander gets another start for the Brewers after a strong outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates last Tuesday.

First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. CDT.