After Saturday’s controversial ending to Game 1 of the Padres and Brewers series, it looked like the Padres were going to even the series and put the roofball issue aside with a clean slate for the rest of the series. Instead, ace closer Mason Miller was tasked with getting six outs to and holding a 3-2 lead. Instead, he ran out of gas deep into the ninth inning as the Brewers put together a series of strong at-bats. Miller walked three in the inning and could only locate his slider, and even that
was backing up on him as he presumably wore down. With the bases loaded Jackson Chourio fouled off a ferocious 103 mph fastball on the outer edge and down to stay alive. Miller missed with a slider and came back with 101 mph down the pipe. Chourio lined a single to right field, and two runs scored to give Milwaukee a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
On the other side, pitching also ruled in the Braves at Dodgers Game 2 matchup. With almost no starting pitching to work with, the Braves built a slim lead and held on with another bullpen game. Blake Snell was terrible, walking five in a short outing, but escaped with only a run allowed in his 3.2 innings of work. Yet his good fortune didn’t carry them to victory as the Braves added on single runs in the fifth and seventh inning. Ace reliever Didier Fuentes carried the Braves through 3.2 innings before finally giving up a solo shot to Max Muncy with two outs in the ninth, making it 3-2. Raisel Iglesias came on to get the final out, and so the series is even at a game apiece as they head to Atlanta for the next two games on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Monday afternoon, the American League side of the bracket gets back to work with the Rays and the White Sox each up 1-0 over their opponents.
The White Sox will look to put the Guardians in a deep 2-0 hole as they send LHP Anthony Kay (10-9, 4.44 ERA) against tough right-hander Gavin Williams (14-8, 3.75 ERA). That broadcast from Progressive Field starts at 5:00 p.m. ET on TBS.
Meanwhile the Yankees need their ace to win them a game against the Rays. RHP Cam Schlittler (14-6, 1.95 ERA) will take on a rejuvenated RHP Freddy Peralta (10-11, 4.42 ERA), who has pitched much better since the Rays acquired him from the Mets. That broadcast from Tropicana Field starts at 8:00 p.m. ET, also on TBS.
Join us here to chat about both games while we enjoy other fanbases’ problems and ignore the state of Detroit sports at the moment.
