Comeback Crew: Brewers rally from eight-run deficit to win 10-9 against Diamondbacks

It was the biggest comeback for the Brewers since 2004

Box Score

It felt like a day to turn off the Brewers game and focus on the Packers. The Brewers were down 8-0 after two innings, and had only scored in two out of 29 innings this series. Not only that, but they were on a streak of 15 straight innings without a run scored. However, they did not give up. The Brewers rallied back and took an improbable 10-9 win on Sunday afternoon.

The game started off badly for the Brewers. The second batter for the Diamondbacks, Ketel Marte, hit a solo shot to put the Brewers down 1-0 in the top of the first. The game calmed down for a few innings from there. Then, it reached the third inning, where the game really started to unravel.

After starting out the inning with a strikeout to Gabriel Moreno, Geraldo Perdomo began the scoring with a one-out triple. That turned into a full trip around the bases after a rare throwing error by Brice Turang sailed out of play. From there, the Diamondbacks continued to pile on.

Pavin Smith singled, Marte walked, and Joc Pederson reached base on a catcher’s interference call. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. grounded out to bring in the third run. Jake McCarthy brought in two more runs with an RBI single. The scoring finished up with back-to-back home runs from Josh Bell and Eugenio Suárez to finish off the scoring that inning.

After Moreno walked in his second at-bat of the inning, the day came to an end for Frankie Montas. In only 2 ²⁄₃ innings pitched, Montas allowed eight runs (seven earned). He gave up six hits (three for home runs) and two walks, striking out only four. (After the game, Pat Murphy said that Montas was tipping his pitches and the runners at second were relaying the information).

At this point, the Brewers could have faded away and played this game out. However, with seven innings to play with, they started chipping away. It started in the bottom of the third, with three singles from Joey Ortiz, Jackson Chourio, and Blake Perkins. It was only a run, but it was the start of the comeback.

Another two runs came off the deficit in the bottom of the fourth. The inning started with a Willy Adames single and Gary Sánchez walk. Moreno also left the game here, limping off the field. The Diamondbacks said that it was a left adductor strain, the same injury that put Moreno on the IL for a month. After that, Sal Frelick doubled on a ball to right, deflecting off Smith’s glove. It brought in Adames and moved Sánchez to third. Ortiz followed that with a sacrifice fly, making it an 8-3 game. Turang and Chourio couldn’t bring in Frelick from second, but the gap was down to five.

They had another scoring chance in the bottom of the fifth inning after William Contreras drew a one-out walk. Murphy had Garrett Mitchell pinch-run for Contreras in an effort to score some more runs. Rhys Hoskins walked to put runners at first and second with one out, but the Brewers couldn’t bring them in. It was a bit of a gut punch as Contreras was now out of the game and the Brewers didn’t get a run from it.

Despite the scoreless inning, it didn’t slow down the Brewers much. In the sixth, the Brewers got another leadoff runner with a Frelick single. He was traded for Ortiz on a groundout, but Ortiz advanced to second on a throwing error by Yilber Diaz. That set up a two-out single by Chourio, chipping another run off the deficit and making it an 8-4 game.

Another leadoff baserunner came in the seventh from a Mitchell single. Mitchell then stole second and scored when Hoskins hit a deep double to center that just went over McCarthy’s glove. Next up, Willy Adames hit a deep double to right-center that bounced into the Diamondbacks’ bullpen, and the deficit was down to 8-6. Adames stole third from there but was thrown out on a Sánchez groundout on a play at the plate. The inning came to a disappointing end when Frelick grounded into a double play.

While all of this was going on, the bullpen was pitching an amazing game to keep the Diamondbacks in check. Aaron Ashby was in first and allowed a walk before getting out of the third with a strikeout. He then allowed a two-out single in the fourth but got three strikeouts for all of his outs in the frame.

DL Hall was in next for the fifth inning. He got into a bit of trouble when Bell reached on Sánchez’s second interference call of the day, and then allowed a walk to Jose Herrera. However, two strikeouts and a flyout got him out of the inning with no damage. He remained in for the sixth inning and retired the three batters in order for a clean inning. Joel Payamps followed Hall for the seventh and worked around a two-out single for a clean inning.

Jared Koenig got the eighth inning next. He allowed a one-out walk to pinch hitter Christian Walker. Ketel Marte hit a ground ball down the left field line, but Joey Ortiz made a diving grab and throw for the out. That did move Walker up, and pinch-hitter Randal Grichuk brought him in with an RBI single. It was the Diamondbacks’ first run since the third, boosting their lead to 9-6.

The eighth started off looking like an easy inning for the Diamondbacks and reliever Joe Mantiply. Ortiz and Turang both grounded out for the first two outs of the inning. That’s where the rest of the comeback came in. Chourio drew a walk, then Blake Perkins hit a hard single to left field. Mitchell came up for his second at-bat of the day, and he had his second single. Chourio scored and the deficit was down to 9-7. With A.J. Puk out for the day, the Diamondbacks brought in Justin Martinez to finish up the eighth. The Brewers were undaunted by the change. After a wild pitch moved Mitchell to second, Hoskins hit a two-strike single into right that scored both Perkins and Mitchell. The game was now tied at 9-9.

Adames was up next, with Hoskins at first and a chance to take the lead. Adames kept the pressure up, hitting a line drive down the left field line. Unfortunately, with Hoskins running, he wasn’t fast enough to score and was held up at third. Murphy went for the knockout by bringing in Jake Bauers to pinch-hit. Bauers fought and hit a ball softly to short. It was placed perfectly and the Diamondbacks had no play. Hoskins scored and the comeback was complete: The Brewers now had a 10-9 lead.

Devin Williams had been warming up throughout the eighth, planning to pitch regardless of the situation. He now had a save opportunity in the ninth to close. Williams started off by walking McCarthy to put the tying run on base. He followed that up with a strikeout of Carroll, but McCarthy stole second. That was as far as the Diamondbacks could get. Suárez flew out to Chourio, and then Herrera struck out. The Brewers won 10-9, their fourth comeback of eight-plus runs in franchise history and first since 2004.

The Brewers’ offense combined for 10 runs, 16 hits, and four walks. Adames led the offense with a three-hit day. Hoskins led the RBI totals for the day with three driven in on two hits. Six different batters had two hits in the game. The Brewers also made the comeback without the help of the home run ball. Not only did the Brewers not hit a home run, they only had four extra-base hits (all doubles). They made his comeback happen mainly with singles, walks, and a few stolen bases.

If you want to see all of the runs, the Brewers have that for you. Here’s a compilation of the comeback for the Brewers.

Also, here’s a look at the win probability graph.

After 13 straight games, the Brewers finally have a day off on Monday. They will follow that day off with a trip to Pittsburgh for their final road series of the regular season. Tobias Myers will lead off that series, facing Bailey Falter of the Pirates. First pitch is set for 5:40 p.m.