Jackson Chourio and William Contreras delivered the kind of October moments that can tilt a series, and they did it while giving the Brewers the edge in Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday night.
Milwaukee had to climb out of an early 2-0 hole after the Padres took advantage of a frustrating second inning against Jacob Misiorowski, who gave San Diego too many looks at his secondary pitches and watched the defense behind him let him down. With the Brewers already trailing, the third inning carried extra weight.
Garrett Mitchell got the rally started in the strangest way possible, fighting off a 93-mile-per-hour sinker and turning it into a soft infield single when Xander Bogaerts couldn’t make the play. Joey Ortiz grounded out, but Mitchell moved to second, setting the stage for Chourio’s second trip to the plate against Robbie Ray.
Chourio had already seen Ray once, and that first at-bat gave him a read. Ray had leaned on his sinker four times in a five-pitch battle, and Chourio’s first trip ended with a harmless fly ball the other way.
The second time through, Chourio was ready for something different. He got a slider, unloaded on it, and sent it screaming out at 113.3 miles per hour for a home run that tied the game.
That swing fit a broader pattern for Chourio this season. The first time he saw a pitcher in a game, he swung at the first pitch 18.1% of the time.
After that, the number jumped to 37.7%. He became far more aggressive the second time around, and the Padres found that out the hard way.
The game stayed tied for a long stretch, but Contreras made a huge defensive play in the fifth that may have saved Milwaukee from another swing in momentum. After Misiorowski was done following four innings, Antonio Senzatela allowed a dribbler toward first off the bat of Dustin Harris.
Jake Bauers’ flip to the base wasn’t handled, and Harris reached on an infield single. Then Harris tried to take second during the next at-bat, and Contreras threw him out with a sharp exchange, quick footwork, and a precise throw to Brice Turang.
That out mattered because Senzatela ran into more trouble in the inning, and the Brewers were able to avoid damage before Pat Murphy could get Aaron Ashby ready.
Contreras saved his biggest moment for the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, nobody on, and the score still tied, he stepped in against Adrian Morejon, who had retired the first two hitters of the inning.
Morejon’s changeup is his calling card, but he only threw one to Contreras in a six-pitch battle, and it wasn’t enough. Contreras worked the count to 2-0, then 3-1, and Morejon and catcher Ethan Salas went to the sinker on 3-1 and 3-2.
Contreras fouled off the first one, then stayed back and drove the second one the other way for the go-ahead homer.
Chourio also made a defensive play in the ninth, tracking down Ty France’s fly ball near the roof. It was another reminder that both players are doing more than just swinging hot bats. Chourio’s third-inning blast, Contreras’s throw in the fifth, and Contreras’s seventh-inning homer all came from hitters who know how to read a game, not just attack it.
Chourio and Contreras started the year by winning the World Baseball Classic for Venezuela, and they came through again when the Brewers needed them most in the postseason opener.
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