Batman Drove in Robin to Win Game 2, But Brewers Are Starting to Seem More Fairy Tale Than Comic Book

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The poor San Diego Padres. They're a very good team, and they played one of their better games on Sunday. They did it in the wake of a heartbreaking loss the previous night. They did it in the belly of a tough stadium to play in, even with the roof open. They've been as hot as any team in baseball for the last month, and they did pretty much everything they could do. It wasn't enough. They were up against forces beyond their ken—namely, a team that has a date with a greater destiny than the Division Series.

By all rights, the visitors should have won Sunday, evening the NLDS at 1-1 and sending it back to Petco Park for what would be a very difficult two-game trial for the Brewers. That phase of the series will still be difficult. Now, though, the Brewers will get to enter it with a 2-0 edge in the series already—much the way they did against the Cubs last October. Should the Padres (it seems improbable, now, but let's imagine) push the series back to The Ueck. though, both teams already know: there's no joy waiting in Milwaukee for the National League's other Small Market That Could. The Brewers sent a clear message, even as they struggled and strained to pull out their latest triumph.

Bad defense has been the theme of the series so far for the Crew. It cost them in Game 1, though it could have cost them much more. It cost them right away in Game 2, and it could have cost them much more. Jake Bauers has played atrocious defense at first base (traditionally, the spot where you sweat defense the least), and the rest of the infield has been uncharacteristically erratic, too. By the top of the seventh on Sunday, it felt like that shakiness might prove to the team's downfall.

And then, it wasn't. Sal Frelick is not this team's superhero. He's never been cut out for that role, and he's only very briefly been assigned it in his three-plus years with the Brewers. Sometimes, though, the superhero can't do it all. They need the help of the Boy Wonder—the little guy an opponent might foolishly overlook or underestimate. At the vital junctures of Game 2, that was what happened. 

Frelick had singled home the first run of the day for the Brewers in the bottom of the fifth, but when the top of the seventh came, the Padres still led, 2-1. Fernando Tatis Jr. reached on an error by David Hamilton, and then, with two outs, Manny Machado drew a walk. That brought Ty France to the plate against a tiring Abner Uribe, whom France also saw on Saturday night. The matchup augured ill for the Crew, and sure enough, France shot a 1-0 sinker through the right side of the infield. Tatis scored, and the Padres were almost in position to keep piling on, but Machado got overambitious. He tried for third, and Frelick threw him out, charging France's grounder well and firing without hesitation to nab the trailing runner. It was a bailout. It was partly a mistake by Machado, but it was also a brilliant play by Frelick.

Between the RBI hit and that throw, the semi-veteran right fielder had earned some of his manager's trust. When Frelick's turn came in the bottom of that inning, lefty Yuki Matsui was on the mound, with one on and one out. Pat Murphy could have taken down Frelick in favor of Andrew Vaughn or (more likely) Luis Lara, but he chose to stick with his little lefty playmaker. Frelick was overanxious at first, swinging at two pitches above the zone, but then he calmed down and forced Matsui to throw him a strike. One finally came on 3-2, but Frelick fouled it away. The seventh pitch sailed high, and Frelick demonstratively threw his bat down as he headed to first. His mission was accomplished. The line kept moving. 

With the bottom of the order due behind him, the Crew was unable to tie the game in that seventh inning. Garrett Mitchell (whom Frelick had impelled to second with his base on balls) did score later, though, on an error by the Padres on a Hamilton ground ball. That brought Milwaukee within one.

It's funny how similar Frelick's next at-bat would be, in some ways, even as it was profoundly different in others. He came up again in the bottom of the ninth, with the score still 3-2. Christian Yelich was on base, this time, and he stole second, so a single by Frelick could have tied the contest. Mason Miller wasn't throwing strikes, though, and this time, Frelick wasn't offering the opposing pitcher any charity at all. He saw six pitches. Two were called strikes, but neither of them was in the zone; Frelick challenged one and got it overturned. Four were called balls; one of those was in the zone and the Padres got it flipped. When the dust settled, though, Frelick had reached base again, without the bat entering the hitting zone. He'd had to lay off four tempting pitches to earn that free pass, and any of the four might have resulted in weak contact or a whiff. He got nothing to hit; no matter. He moved that line again.

That's as far as the sidekick can take you, though. They can land a blow and weaken the enemy when things look most dire. They can keep the fight going when it looks like you might be about to be pulverized. But they're there to set the stage and lend support; the hero still has to be the hero. To get their hero to the plate, the Brewers needed one more unexpected contribution, but they got it. Gary Sánchez drew a six-pitch walk of his own, pushing Frelick into scoring position and Yelich to third base—and bringing Jackson Chourio to bat.

I love stories about the unheralded hero. I love an underdog. Frelick's two hard-worked walks, and his key earlier single and that great throw, those things made the game winnable. But this game went from great to transcendent when Chourio stepped in, to face the best closer in baseball at the end of a grueling two-inning stint. In October, Chourio has been a genuine superhero. Even last year, when he made some of the key outs while playing through a significant hamstring strain in the NLCS, it was clear how capable he is of reaching another level in the heat of the playoff spotlight. He got a fairy-tale setup for this at-bat: bases loaded, two outs, one run down, an elite fireballer on the mound. When playoff games go down indelibly in the game's history, it's for moments and encounters like that one.

First Pitch: Swinging Strike, 100.8 MPH, Inner Third, Upper Third
Everything you hope this kind of battle will be showed up right away. Miller threw a fastball right by Chourio, which is what Miller does to people. Chourio gave it his best pass, though. This game would not end with one side trusting home-plate umpire Lance Barrett's zone; that much was certain. (Barrett had 10 calls overturned on the day.)

Pitch 2: Ball, 102.2 MPH, Outside
Unless you're Jacob Misiorowski, it's hard to keep that much heat on the plate. Chourio was geared up to time Miller's fastball, but not so tightly wired for it that he plunged into swing mode. Count: even.

Pitch 3: Swinging Strike, 102.2 MPH, Right Down Wisconsin Ave.
Oof. That was the one, you thought. It's so nasty, what Miller can do. His slider is so sharp that you can't quite force yourself to aim for the top half of that fastball, which is how he gets you, because that thing has some hop to it, even at 102. He doesn't strike out 47% of opposing batters without having the ability to simply bully them. Still, it hurt to see that one slip past.

Pitch 4: Foul, 103.5 MPH, Outer Edge, Just Above Knees
Last year, though the Cubs eventually ousted San Diego in the Wild Card Series, Miller dotted a 104-MPH heater on the outside corner to Carson Kelly, at the knees. It was so unfair that it became an oft-used video exemplar of how unfair modern pitching can be. This was that pitch again, only with the stakes ratcheted up higher, good enough to win the game right there and break hearts all over Milwaukee. But Chourio is no Carson Kelly. He spoiled it. This is when you could really sense that something was coming.

Pitch 5: Ball, 88.8 MPH, Slider Well Below the Zone
This was the right pitch, again. Miller really did work Chourio over in the at-bat. There was just something in Chourio's eye that allowed him to avert defeat on the previous pitch, and to hold off on this one, setting the stage. That was Miller's 39th pitch. He was still working fairly well, but he could feel his own clock running out. Chourio had forced him back to something a bit less perfect. He just had to not miss it, this time.

Pitch 6: 101.3 MPH, Upper Third, Outer Third. Bedlam.
The ball jumped off Chourio's bat at 109.5 MPH—right back where it came from, a hair steeper, no chance for anyone to stop it, and no chance you were throwing out trusty Sal Frelick as he streaked home with the winning run, either. The Ueck exploded. The game was over, and the series might as well be, too. 

Chourio now has 17 hits and 15 RBIs in the postseason, not even three years past his debut and before he turns 23 years old. In baseball history, only 267 batters have driven in most playoff runs. Chourio is now tied with Willie Mays, along with famous playoff heroes Cecil Cooper, Chris Chambliss, Bucky Dent, Juan Gonzálex and Salvador Perez, among others. He's carving one of the great postseason legacies in the game's history, day by day. Sunday, though, might have been his greatest moment. Like all the others, it wouldn't have been possible without his teammates. They (today, especially Frelick) deserve a tremendous amount of credit. But Chourio will be the center of the story, and it shouldn't be any other way.

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[MattK]

Great wrap up, thanks Matthew!