Christian Yelich and Josh Donaldson on Friday homered during a 12-run second inning as the Milwaukee Brewers clinched their latest playoff berth with a 16-1 rout of the Miami Marlins.
Milwaukee, assured at least a National League wild-card, trimmed their magic number to one for wrapping up the NL Central title.
The Brewers, who have won four straight, can secure the crown with another victory over Miami this morning Taiwan time or a loss by the Chicago Cubs to the Colorado Rockies.
Photo: AFP
It is the fifth post-season trip in six years for the Brewers — by far the best stretch in franchise history.
“The way we’ve played and the confidence these guys have in each other, it’s a playoff team,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We deserve to be there the way this team has played the last six weeks.”
The defeat dropped the Marlins one game behind the Cubs for the third and final NL wild-card.
Photo: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY
Yelich also launched a three-run shot in the sixth inning as he returned to the lineup after missing 11 of the previous 12 games because of lower-back tightness.
“You haven’t seen game action for a few weeks and you kind of don’t know where your timing is going to be,” Yelich said. “Took a bunch of swings the last few days and checked the health boxes.”
Corbin Burnes (10-8) benefited from the early run support and scattered two hits over five scoreless innings. He struck out six.
The 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner had not won since July 20.
“Twelve runs — I didn’t know that was possible,” Burnes said. “Obviously, it makes the next innings go a little easier.”
Milwaukee sent 15 batters to the plate against relievers Steven Okert (3-2) and Bryan Hoeing during the second-largest inning in their history. The Brewers scored 13 runs in the fifth to beat the California Angels 20-7 on July 8, 1990.
Two-run homers by Donaldson and Yelich started and capped the scoring. Mark Canha also hit a two-run double, Carlos Santana and Blake Perkins added RBI doubles, and William Contreras, Sal Frelick and Brice Turang had run-scoring singles. In his second at-bat of the inning, Donaldson had another RBI with a groundout.
“We had great at-bats, took what was available, walks, going first to third, running the bases well and obviously a couple of big swings there,” Yelich said. “Just proud of the guys tonight and hope to keep it going.”
The only teams to clinch playoff berths with more lopsided wins were the 2001 Atlanta Braves and the 1996 New York Yankees. Atlanta beat the Marlins by 17 runs and the Yankees routed Milwaukee by 17.
Miami’s Luis Arraez was hitless in one at-bat as his major league-leading batting average stayed at .354. Arraez missed the previous two games because of a left-ankle sprain and was replaced after the Brewers built the early double-digit lead.
Jon Berti homered for Miami in the eighth.
“I think everybody just wants to eat, get the hell out of here and come back” for the game today, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “Do the best they can to flush it and try to win a game.”
Marlins opener JT Chargois was lifted after getting two outs and walking two in a bullpen game for Miami.
Elsewhere on Friday, it was:
‧ Nationals 6, Braves 9
‧ Twins 8, Angels 6
‧ Dodgers 1, Giants 5
‧ Padres 4, Cardinals 2
‧ Athletics 8, Tigers 2
‧ Guardians 9, Orioles 8
‧ Yankees 7, Diamondbacks 1
‧ Cubs 6, Rockies 0
‧ Rays 2, Blue Jays 6
‧ Rangers 8, Mariners 5
‧ Astros 5, Royals 7
‧ Red Sox 3, White Sox 2
‧ Reds 5, Pirates 7
‧ Phillies 5, Mets 4 (10i)
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS