Two catches. One rookie. And a Brewers win that leaned hard on right field.
Jackson Chourio wasn’t the story Sunday at American Family Field. It was Luis Lara, the 21-year-old making just his 24th game in the Major Leagues, who turned the night with a pair of defensive plays that changed the shape of Milwaukee’s 4-3 walk-off victory over the Twins.
The first one came in the sixth inning, when Brooks Lee crushed a Jacob Misiorowski four-seamer toward right field. It looked dangerous off the bat, and Lara initially seemed to lose it. But he tracked it down in a burst at the last second and leaped near the top of the fence to make the grab.
“I felt he gave up on it,” Lee said, “and then all of a sudden he's Spider-Manning.”
That play kept the game tied and saved extra bases. As good as it was, Lara saved the real showstopper for later.
In the 10th, with Kody Clemens threatening to put Minnesota in front, Lara went back to the wall again, this time crashing into it as he elevated for a catch that robbed the Twins of a go-ahead run. He took a cut on his leg on the play, but popped right up and fired the ball back in to keep Royce Lewis to one base.
“When I saw the ball off the bat,” Lara said via interpreter Daniel de Mondesert, “I just knew whatever happened, I was going to find a way to make the play.”
That effort brought a big reaction from the home crowd, and Lara said it meant plenty to him.
“It was a very important moment for me there, and really the first time in my career that I've experienced something like that,” Lara said of the crowd response. “Just to be able to feel that support from the fans is something that's important to me. It's something that means a lot.
“Hopefully, I can continue to do things that continue giving them reasons to cheer and to support.”
Misiorowski, who recorded his 200th strikeout of the season Sunday, had a front-row view of the first catch and knew exactly what it meant.
“I've seen it for years now in Double-A and all the levels I played with him,” said Misiorowski, who notched his 200th strikeout of the season Sunday. “It's one of those things that you're like, ‘Ope, there's our Lara.’ It’s really cool to finally see him do it at the big league level.”
Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy liked it just as much.
“He's a ballplayer, man,” Murphy said. “That's why the organization made a long-term commitment to him, because he's a ballplayer.”
Lara’s second catch ended up mattering even more in the immediate moment. DL Hall struck out Lee to finish the top of the 10th, and the Brewers took care of the rest in the bottom half.
Jake Bauers lined a single into shallow left with two men on, and Brice Turang charged home from third. Bauers admitted he thought the send might end badly.
“My first thought was, ‘Oh my god, he's going to be out by a mile,’” Bauers said of the aggressive send.
Instead, Turang beat the throw and got a hand in under Ryan Jeffers’ glove to seal the 4-3 walk-off win and give Milwaukee the series.
It was the kind of finish that only happened because Lara kept taking away Minnesota’s best chances in the field. Two huge grabs, one rookie, and a game the Brewers never would have closed without him.
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