Late surge pushes Brewers ahead of Yankees for 8-2 win

Box Score

The Brewers came into New York looking to rebound from a rough series against the Pirates. It took two-thirds of the game, but the Brewers offense fully came alive in the seventh as they routed the Yankees 8-2 on Friday night.

Colin Rea got the start for the Brewers and did what he needed to do. It didn’t start well with walks to the first two Yankees batters. Rea got out of the inning without any other issues, then worked around a double in the second. Rea’s big mistakes came in the third inning. Aaron Judge singled to set up Jasson Dominguez for a two-run home run and give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Overall, he pitched 4 ²⁄₃ innings and allowed just those two runs. He also allowed three hits, two walks, and had six strikeouts.

From there, the Brewers bullpen took over and shut down the Yankees for the rest of the game. Between Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill, Bryse Wilson, and Thyago Vieira, they allowed a total of three walks and zero hits in 4 ¹⁄₃ innings.

It bought the Brewers offense time to get going. They tied the game in the fourth after Carlos Santana singled to set up Willy Adames. He responded with a two-run home run to tie the game at 2-2.

In the first six innings, though, the Brewers couldn’t break through other than that home run. The offense went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position in those innings. Adames reached third with one out in the second but didn’t score. Turang singled to lead off the fifth and stole second with no outs but was left stranded there. In the sixth, Frelick got to third and Rowdy Tellez was on first with one out. Again, the Brewers couldn’t drive them in.

The seventh inning started with another runner in scoring position as Andruw Monasterio doubled to lead off. Christian Yelich grounded out to move Monasterio up to third. That brought up William Contreras, and he broke through with the Brewers first hit with a runner in scoring position. That gave the Brewers a 3-2 lead and opened the floodgates. Carlos Santana singled after that to drive in another run, and then Willy Adames doubled with two outs to increase the lead to 5-2.

The runs kept coming in the eighth inning. Mark Canha singled to lead off and Brice Turang singled after that to put runners at first and third. Andruw Monasterio hit his second double of the day to drive in Joey Wiemer (who pinch ran for Canha) and Turang, and the Brewers lead was up to 7-2. Contreras then moved up Monasterio with a single and Santana drove him in with another single.

In total, the Brewers offense finished with eight runs on 16 hits and two walks. Carlos Santana and Brice Turang each had three-hit days. William Contreras, Willy Adames, and Andruw Monasterio each added on two hits. Every Brewers starter had at least one hit. They recovered from that 0-for-7 start with runners in scoring position to finish the game at 7-for-20.

The Brewers move back to three games ahead in the division standings with the win today. In addition, the Cubs and Reds both lost. The Brewers magic number for the division is officially under 20 and down to 19.

It’s back to work tomorrow afternoon in game two of the series. Wade Miley will face Michael King in the start. First pitch is at 1:05 p.m. on Bally Sports Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.