Brewers escape with 3-2 victory over Twins behind obstruction call, eighth-inning rally

The Brewers got some help tonight, as a mistake by Royce Lewis and a key (see: correct) call by the umpires allowed them to tie and later take the lead in the eighth inning in Minnesota, giving the Brewers their 25th win of the season against the Twins.

Milwaukee got things started with a bang, as Jackson Chourio doubled, advanced on a flyout from Brice Turang, and William Contreras brought him around with a single off the glove of Brooks Lee at shortstop with the infield in.

After the top of the first, Coleman Crow and Joe Ryan exchanged 1-2-3 innings for a bit, as neither team had another baserunner until the top of the fourth, when Jake Bauers singled (extending his on-base streak to 17) and stole second but was ultimately stranded at third base after a nice play by Lee at short.

Crow’s first baserunner allowed came in the fourth, as Ryan Jeffers reached on an error by Luis Rengifo, whose throw pulled Bauers off the base at first.

The Twins finally put up a threat and picked up their first hit of the evening in the fifth, as Kody Clemens was hit by a pitch and Ryan Kreidler moved him to third with a single, putting runners at the corners with two outs. Kreidler was then caught stealing second, ending the threat just as it was getting started.

In the sixth, Crow got into some more trouble, allowing back-to-back singles to begin the inning and putting runners at the corners once again. That marked the end of the night for him, as he was pulled in favor of Aaron Ashby. Ashby immediately induced a double play to clear the bases, though the run scored to close the book on Crow with a no-decision.

Crow threw just 68 pitches, 49 of them for strikes, as he went 5+ innings with one run allowed on three hits, a hit batter, and no walks. He also struck out three.

In the seventh, the Brewers immediately responded with a threat of their own, as Andrew Vaughn and Sal Frelick hit a pair of one-out singles. Rengifo then grounded into what was initially called a double play, but the Brewers challenged the out call at first, and the call was overturned. The runners at the corners went for naught, though, as David Hamilton hit a soft grounder in front of the plate for the final out.

With Ashby still on the mound in the bottom of the seventh, the Twins took their first lead of the night, hitting three consecutive singles (though the first of those could certainly have been ruled an error on Bauers, as he deflected the ball into the outfield). On the third single, though, the throw home from Chourio was cut off, and Clemens was caught between second and third. Ashby allowed one more single to Kreidler, but he got out of the jam with a strikeout of James Outman.

Now down 2-1, Ashby was suddenly in line for his first loss of the season. Not for long, though.

Chourio singled and moved to third on a single by Turang, as he was in motion on the 3-2 count. Turang then stole second to put the go-ahead run in scoring position with no outs. With Contreras at the plate and the infield in, things got strange fast.

Contreras hit a routine groundball right to Lee at shortstop, and with Chourio a few steps off the bag, Lee went to third with the throw. A sliding Chourio was initially called out, but third base umpire Jordan Baker’s hands immediately went up as he called for an umpire meeting. Both managers stepped out of their dugouts at this point.

After a short discussion, Chourio was awarded home plate due to obstruction by Royce Lewis at third, as Lewis clearly blocked the bag with his foot (the play is technically ruled as an E5 by Lewis). Both Contreras and Turang were also safe at first and second, respectively. Understandably upset at the situation, Twins manager Derek Shelton was tossed after a few words with the umps.

After all of that, Milwaukee was still in the driver’s seat with Bauers at the plate. Bauers lined a 2-1 sinker that hung over the middle into right-center, allowing Turang to score and putting runners at second and third, still with no outs. Unfortunately, the Brewers couldn’t cash anything else in, as Blake Perkins grounded out with the infield in, Vaughn flew out to shallow left (after missing a two-run ground-rule double by mere inches down the right field line), and Frelick lined out. Still, Milwaukee led 3-2, and Ashby was now in line for his MLB-leading eighth win.

Abner Uribe, who has had his share of struggles this season with a 4.96 ERA entering tonight, took the eighth. After a strikeout, he allowed a single and a walk, but a Josh Bell grounder turned into an inning-ending double play.

After a 1-2-3 ninth for the Crew, Trevor Megill, who was demoted from the closer role roughly a month ago, entered for what would be his first save chance since an extra-inning save in Miami on April 17 (which also happened to be Crow’s first and only MLB start to date). He set the Minnesota batters down with ease, ending things with a strikeout of Lewis on the sixth pitch of the at-bat.

It may not have been pretty, but the Brewers escaped with their seventh win in their last eight games, moving them to 25-17 on the season. Despite allowing the go-ahead run in the seventh, Ashby is now a perfect 8-0 on the season, a full two wins ahead of Chris Sale, Paul Skenes, and José Soriano, three Cy Young candidates who sit tied for second with six wins each. Megill picked up his fifth save of the season with a clean ninth.

Chourio and Bauers led the offense with two hits each, including a double for both. Bauers brought in the go-ahead run with his double in the eighth, and he added a stolen base, too (as did Turang). No other player reached more than twice, as the Brewers totaled nine hits and one walk on the night.

The Brewers will look to keep it rolling on Saturday night, as Logan Henderson gets the start against Connor Prielipp in a matchup of rookies. First pitch is set for 6:10 p.m.