Ortiz's heroics vs. Yanks help Crew keep finding ways to win

MILWAUKEE -- The season won’t stop while the Brewers figure out how to piece together a pitching rotation. And if they are going to play, it appears they are intent on continuing to find a way to win.

Willy Adames delivered an RBI single in the 10th to extend the game for rookie third baseman Joey Ortiz’s walk-off single in the 11th, capping a four-RBI night that began with Ortiz’s first Major League home run and giving the Brewers a hard-fought, 7-6 win over the Yankees at American Family Field on Friday night.

The victory pushed Milwaukee’s record to 17-8, which is second-best in the National League. Not too bad, considering a baseball fan outside the state of Wisconsin might not be able to name a healthy Brewers starting pitcher beyond Freddy Peralta.

“Like Murph preached in Spring Training,” said injured Brewers starter Wade Miley, referring to Milwaukee's first-year manager, Pat Murphy, “there’s an opportunity for somebody to step up and make a name for yourself ... That’s the cool part about the game. It’s going to keep flowing.”

Brandon Woodruff was already lost for the year and now Miley is, too. Jakob Junis is back on his feet after a scare at PNC Park earlier this week, but his shoulder is still an issue and the Brewers are mulling bringing him back as a reliever. It’s not out of the realm of possibility to think the same could happen to left-hander DL Hall once he recovers from an MCL injury in his knee; Hall was electric in relief last year for the Orioles before struggling this year as a Brewers starter.

With all of those starters sidelined, it’s Peralta and Colin Rea -- who surrendered three Yankees homers Friday but still covered six innings and kept the Brewers in a ballgame that was tied from the sixth inning until a see-saw 10th -- leading a group that also includes Joe Ross coming off two years lost to Tommy John surgery, Bryse Wilson just ramping up as a starter after beginning the season in the bullpen and Tobias Myers coming off his Major League debut.

It might be enough to test the manager’s sunny disposition, if not for his team’s knack for finding a way to win.

“There’s a limit to depth,” Murphy said. “We’ve lost so many guys this year -- by my count, that’s nine of our top 16 pitchers are out. We’re having to fill in with guys who we had no idea were going to be in the big leagues. That’s a challenge, but at the same time it’s a great opportunity.”

It’s not just the rotation injuries. When Garrett Mitchell fractured his finger at the end of Spring Training, it paused Sal Frelick’s third base experiment and opened time at that position for Ortiz, whose first Major League home run was a game-tying, two-run shot in the second inning off Yankees starter Luis Gil.

Ortiz later added a tying sacrifice fly in the sixth inning and his first career walk-off hit in the 11th off Yankees reliever Michael Tonkin. It made a winner of another of the Brewers’ beneficiaries of opportunity, left-hander Jared Koenig, who limited the damage to one run in the 10th inning before denying the Yankees in the 11th.

“The more pitching you see and the better acquainted you get, the more comfortable you get,” said Ortiz. “It was just nice to feel comfortable today.”

The mainstay for the NL Central-leading Brewers has been the hard-worked bullpen, which limited New York to one unearned run over the game’s final five innings without having to use some of the team’s key, high-leverage arms. Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill and Joel Payamps all rested.

“Our bullpen has been magnificent for us,” Murphy said. “They’ve overachieved. It isn’t conventional how we’re doing it, but it’s what we have to do to win tonight.”

He added, “Will we pay the price down the road? I guess we’ll see.”

About that: In spite of their immediate need for starting pitchers, the Brewers might bring Junis back in relief if they decide it’s best for his health and production. It also would mean getting a good arm back to the mound more quickly.

“You can’t rush him back, but if you bring Junis back and he’s comfortable with a two-inning, two-and-a-half-inning role, and you’ve got four, five of those guys, maybe we can get creative and they can help us get through the game,” Murphy said. “It might not look conventional to you guys, but we get through and nobody is worse off for it.”

So far, the unconventional formula has worked.