NEW YORK — Baseball is a game of second chances, but rarely like this.
After killing a rally with a double play in his previous at-bat, Joey Ortiz found himself in the exact same spot as he strolled to the plate in the sixth inning. Bags full. One out. Tie game.
“Game came back to Joey,” manager Pat Murphy said. “Always does.”
It was almost too convenient a script for the Milwaukee Brewers shortstop.
Almost.
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Ortiz changed both his fortunes and the game’s with one swing, rocketing a no-doubter out to left field for a grand slam that turned the tides in the Brewers’ favor for good in a 7-2 win over the New York Mets in the first end of a doubleheader July 2 at Citi Field.
It followed a similar overarching trend of Ortiz’s entire season: Given another opportunity despite previous disappointment, he delivered. That’s been the story of the season for Ortiz, who after a porous first two months offensively has gotten going of late, with four homers in his last seven games and a .291 average over his last 15.
“You got to do your best to flush that bad at-bat away knowing you’re going get another at-bat in that same game and have an opportunity to come through again,” Ortiz said. “Like Rhys (Hoskins) always says, you’ve got to keep walking up there because you’re going to get another shot.”
The slam made a winner of Freddy Peralta for fourth straight start as the right-hander went six innings allowing two runs on only two hits and one walk. It also vaulted the Brewers ahead of the scuffling Mets and into the first wild-card spot in the National League.
Grand salami caps Brewers rally
Ortiz had his retribution — in grand fashion.
Ortiz’s double play in the fourth had his manager frustrated. On the heels of three consecutive walks by Mets starter Clay Holmes in the fourth, Ortiz went up to the plate hacking and pounded a sinker right to third baseman Mark Vientos for a tailor-made double play.
“He wouldn’t have gotten that third at-bat if it were up to me because I would have tased him,” Murphy said. “I thought he responded well to that. It might’ve been a double-tase. Guy walked three in a row and you swing at the first pitch. I’m off pull-side grounders to begin with. It’s not one of my favorite flavors. I was ready to tase him.”
Luckily, MLB hasn’t implemented the rule allowing managers to do that yet. Because when Ortiz found himself in the same situation two innings later in the sixth, he delivered a quality at-bat and even better swing.
Ortiz sent a 3-1 cutter 378 feet out to left field for his first career grand slam, capping a five-run rally that primarily came against right-hander Reed Garrett, who’s been one of the Mets’ top bullpen arms this year.
The Brewers shortstop, taking a cue from his last trip up, worked his way to a 3-0 count on the heels of an excellent plate appearance from Jake Bauers, who ended up with a walk to fill the bags, then turned on a waist-high fastball that caught too much of the plate.
“First at-bat where I doubled out, I flew open trying to make something happen,” Ortiz said. “In the second AB i was just trying to be simple, stay through the middle and get a pitch I could hit.”
The rally began in earnest when the Brewers chased Holmes from the game with one out in the inning after a walk and flyout. Holmes wasn’t exactly crisp, walking four and registering no strikeouts after the third batter of the game, but he managed to make pitches whenever the situation called for it.
Against Garrett, the Brewers immediately teed off. Brice Turang smacked the first pitch Garrett threw upon entering the game for a game-tying double to left, extending his hitting streak to 14 games in the process. The streak is one game shy of his career high.
“One hundred percent, that put some pressure on them for sure,” said left fielder Isaac Collins, who homered in the eighth as part of a career-high four-hit game. “That definitely rattles pitchers coming out of the bullpen. You put a double down the line, opposite field, first pitch, that definitely gets him thinking a little bit. There was never any panic in the dugout today, it was just one through nine, quality at-bats.”
Collins himself followed by singling to left, then Bauers spat on a pair of breaking balls just off the plate on his way to a free pass to set the stage for Ortiz’s theatrics.
“You start with the top of the lineup having good at-bats, seeing lots of pitches, putting good swings on balls, getting deep into counts, it just carries over to the next guy,” Collins said. “That’s really all it’s been lately. Top of the lineup, bottom of the lineup, everybody is contributing.”
Freddy Peralta goes six quality frames
Peralta knew what he was doing taking the first end of the twin bill.
“I like to get it done and sit and enjoy, especially today, because we get to see (Jacob) Misiorowski next,” Peralta said. “I told him yesterday I’m going to take the first one because I want to see you.”
If Peralta was the opener for the young flamethrower’s marquee event later in the night, he sure put on a pretty impressive show himself, navigating a star-powered lineup three times through with only two base hits allowed.
“They’re really good hitters,” Peralta said of the likes of Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso. “My plan was to attack them and try to make them swing early and all that because I know that most of them, they know the strike zone really well. My plan was to attack them and try to get quick outs.”
It didn’t quite start that way. Peralta had to throw 25 pitches for a 1-2-3 first inning as Lindor, Marte and Soto made him work out of the gate. Marte and Soto took Peralta to full counts, while Lindor battled him for nine pitching, including a second-pitch fastball hit about 415 feet but foul.
“I stayed on the same plan,” Peralta said. “I knew that (Lindor) was swinging really good against me. The second pitch, you saw how far he hit it. I was like, ‘I got to keep going. I have 85 more pitches left.’
“It happens during the game. Sometimes it happens late in the game for me. It’s just knowing how to manage those moments, and I was able to control the game.”
The only blips for Peralta were control-related and brief. In the bottom of the third, he plunked Jeff McNeil in the shoulder with a two-strike pitch, and the Mets center fielder would come around to tie the game, scoring on a Brett Baty sacrifice fly. In the fourth, a leadoff walk to Soto resulted in New York’s second run.
“Other than that he was pretty flawless,” Murphy said.
Squandered opportunity in fourth
Before finally breaking through, Ortiz seemed snakebit with the bases loaded earlier in the game.
As Ortiz grounded into the double play against Holmes, he dropped 2 for 26 with three double play grounders and no extra-base hits in his career with the bases juiced.
Almost predictably, the Mets immediately responded by taking the lead as Peralta walked Juan Soto on four pitches, allowed him to steal second with ease by not paying him enough attention and then gave up a RBI single to Pete Alonso after climbing ahead, 0-2, in the count.
Sal Frelick comes out swinging
It’s the Summer of Sal.
Sal Frelick opened up the doubleheader in loud fashion, crushing Clay Holmes’ second pitch of the game out to right field for a home run, his second in as many games.
Frelick upped his career-high dinger total to six this year.
“I feel like Sal’s always had power, he’s just been waiting to show it,” Ortiz said. “It’s showing now.”
What time is the Brewers game today?
Time: 12:10 p.m.
What channel is the Brewers game on today?
TV channel: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin
Brewers lineup
- Sal Frelick RF
- William Contreras C
- Christian Yelich DH
- Jackson Chourio CF
- Brice Turang 2B
- Isaac Collins LF
- Jake Bauers 1B
- Joey Ortiz SS
- Anthony Seigler 3B
Mets lineup
- Francisco Lindor SS
- Starling Marte DH
- Juan Soto RF
- Pete Alonso 1B
- Brandon Nimmo LF
- Mark Vientos 3B
- Jeff McNeil CF
- Luis Torrens C
- Brett Baty 2B
Brewers schedule
Brewers at Mets, 6:10 p.m. July 3. Milwaukee RHP José Quintana (6-2, 3.30) vs. New York Mets TBA. TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
