Christian Yelich hit a go-ahead two-run triple in the eighth inning, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 7-5 victory over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night.
William Contreras had two hits and three RBIs, while Willy Adames doubled twice for the NL Central-leading Brewers (28-20).
Trailing 5-4, Jake Bauers doubled against Marlins reliever A.J. Puk (0-5) to start the eighth, and Contreras drew a two-out walk. Yelich then cleared the bases with a drive to deep right-center, putting the Brewers ahead 6-5. Adames’ RBI double scored Yelich and forced Puk out of the game.
“I kinda knew that I was probably going to be the one to end up facing him, when William was up there,” Yelich said.
“I figure they’d probably pitch around him – I don’t know if they were or not. Just feeling the at-bat out and making some adjustments throughout it. I’m glad that one got to the wall.” The two extra-base hits by Adames broke a 1-for-17 slump.
“I’ve been great mentally because I’ve been hitting the ball hard. They haven’t been dropping,” Adames said. “At some point, they’re going to start dropping. I just try to stay strong mentally and keep hitting the ball hard as much as I can.”
Tobias Myers (1-2) pitched a scoreless seventh for his first major league win, and Joel Payamps followed with a perfect eighth. A night after blowing a one-run lead in the ninth, Trevor Megill struck out the side to earn his seventh save.
“Grateful for the type of guys we have,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “They do stay relentless. Pay the price for whatever it takes to win that day.”
Dane Myers’ sacrifice fly capped a three-run sixth inning off Brewers starter Robert Gasser and gave Miami a 5-4 lead. Jazz Chisholm Jr. scored from second on Otto Lopez’s sacrifice bunt to make it 4-3, and Christian Bethancourt hit a game-tying single ahead of Myers.
“I’m proud of the fight,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “That group fought back. Some pretty electric plays. Some good baseball plays. Jazz – I’m not sure how many people can run the bases like that. The instincts are real. Not too many people can do what he did.”
