Isaac Collins walks it off as Brewers win ninth straight

Yahoo

3 days ago

The Brewers look unstoppable right now. Despite going down 5-0 early in the game, Milwaukee has now won nine straight. William Contreras homered twice, Joey Ortiz had two clutch hits, and Isaac Collins continued to make a case for NL Rookie of the Year with a walk-off home run off of Mets' closer Edwin Diaz.
Quinn Priester, who was attempting to set a new franchise record by winning his 11th consecutive decision, ending up having one of his worst starts as a Brewer. Priester allowed one run in every inning in which he appeared except for the first inning, in which he allowed two. Francisco Lindor led off the first inning with a hit-by-pitch, stole second, and scored on a Juan Soto single. Priester then proceeded to walk Brandon Nimmo after a Soto steal, putting runners on first and second with nobody out for cleanup hitter Pete Alonso.
Things looked like they were going to get out of hand very quickly. Thankfully, Alonso grounded into a double play for the first and second outs of the inning. That brought up Jeff McNeil, who sliced a line drive single into right field to score Soto. Ronny Mauricio then singled to put runners on first and second again, but Cedric Mullins grounded out to Andruw Monasterio at second to end the top of the first.
The top of Milwaukee's order went down quietly, save for an Isaac Collins double. Brett Baty led off the top of the second with a home run to make it 3-0, but Priester quickly retired the side after that. Milwaukee 's only base runner in the bottom of the second was catcher Danny Jansen, who reached on a walk.
The Mets got another run in the top of the third after a one-out double from Alonso. McNeil popped out to Caleb Durbin at third for the second out, but Mauricio hit a hard ground ball through the right side of the infield for a base hit. Alonso scored easily, but Jansen made a nice heads up play to secure the third out — nailing Mauricio trying to take second by coming out in front of the plate to receive the throw from right fielder Brandon Lockridge.
Milwaukee went three up, three down in the bottom of the third. In the top of the fourth, Priester gave up another run on a Cedric Mullins solo home run, bringing the score to 5-0. William Contreras decided he was done being shut out, leading off the bottom of the frame with a solo shot of his own.
Andrew Vaughn kept it rolling with a single up the middle, but things started to slow down for Milwaukee after that. Blake Perkins, who's been seeing the ball recently, struck out after a pretty rough at-bat. Andruw Monasterio grounded into a fielders' choice at second for the second out.
With two outs and a runner on first, Milwaukee mounted another rally. Danny Jansen smoked a double down the left field line to put runners on second and third for Brandon Lockridge, who worked a walk. Nine hitter Joey Ortiz worked the count to 2-2, fouled off a couple good pitches from Manaea, then snuck a ground ball through the hole at shortstop to cut the lead to two runs.
The Mets chased Priester with one out (a sacrifice bunt from Nimmo) in the fifth. Pete Alonso hit another RBI double to make it 6-3 Mets, and Pat Murphy had seen enough. Murph brought in DL Hall to face Jeff McNeil, who he promptly walked. Luckily, Hall was able to bear down and retire Mauricio and Mullins to end the inning.
Isaac Collins led off the bottom of the fifth with base hit, putting one runner on for Contreras, who is suddenly red-hot again.
Contreras' two-run shot made it 6-5, which would remain the score until the bottom of the eighth. Hall was dealing for the Brewers. going 3.2 innings without allowing a hit.
Milwaukee couldn't manage much on offense in the sixth and seventh, despite a seventh inning rally courtesy of singles from Anthony Seigler (pinch-hitting for Durbin against right-hander Tyler Rogers) and Contreras. Andrew Vaughn had another opportunity to come through in the clutch, but grounded into a double play to end the inning.
The eighth, however, was a different story. Brice Turang (pinch-hitting for Perkins) worked a walk off of former Cardinals closer and current Mets set-up man Ryan Helsley. Murph brought in Sal Frelick to pinch-hit for Monasterio, but Frelick flew out to center for the first out. Danny Jansen then ripped a ground-ball single into left-field, advancing Turang to second. Helsley struck out Lockridge after an eight-pitch battle, bringing up Joey Ortiz. Ortiz hit a two-hopper down the first base line off the glove of a diving Alonso and into right field, scoring Turang from second for his third RBI of the game.
With the game tied at six runs apiece, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza put in closer Edwin Diaz to face Anthony Seigler. Diaz's first pitch was a fastball in the dirt, about an inch from hitting Seigler in the foot. Catcher Luis Torrens couldn't handle it, and the ball skipped all the way to the backstop — advancing Ortiz and Jansen to second and third respectively. Seigler then hit a hard line drive down the first base line, but Alonso fully laid out to ensnare the ball and preserve the tie.
Murphy brought in Nick Mears to try and keep the game tied in the top of the ninth. Mears got Torrens to ground out and Lindor to line out to Lockridge, now in center after Turang pinch-hit for Perkins. Juan Soto worked a walk, but Nimmo hit a looper down the left field line that Collins settled under for the third out.
Mendoza brought Diaz back out for the ninth. Isaac Collins, the first hitter up, worked a 2-2 count on four straight fastballs. Diaz then threw a slider to try and get Collins off balance, but he was ready — catching it out front and sending it over the right field fence for a walk-off home run. Chills.
The Brewers have now won nine straight games, again. Milwaukee will take on the Pirates tomorrow for the first game of a three-game set and a chance at another double-digit win streak.