Clutch hits in 12th inning propel 'relentless' Brewers

MINNEAPOLIS -- For 11 innings on Saturday, the Brewers hitters time and again came up empty with runners on base. But that just made the 12th inning that much sweeter.

Joey Ortiz drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly as the Brewers erupted for five runs in the 12th inning and held on to beat the Twins, 8-4, at a sold-out Target Field.

The Brewers had just one hit in their first 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position, but that changed in a big way in the 12th inning, when they went 5-for-5 in those prime RBI spots.

“This was a relentless victory if there ever was one. Relentless -- on the road, great crowd, great atmosphere and a really good team across the way,” manager Pat Murphy said.

With automatic runner Sal Frelick on second to start the 12th inning, Blake Perkins beat out a grounder to shortstop to put runners on first and second. Jake Bauers then popped up a bunt attempt, but Twins pitcher Steven Okert (3-1) couldn’t catch it, touching it before it rolled in to foul territory, to load the bases.

Ortiz put the Brewers on top, 4-3, when he greeted reliever Josh Staumont with a long drive to center field. Frelick scored easily, and Perkins tagged up and reached third on the play.

Jackson Chourio followed with an RBI single to center, which drove in Perkins and moved Bauers to third. Chourio stole second, and both runners scored on Brice Turang’s line drive single to right.

Turang took second on the throw to the plate, and he came home on William Contreras’ single to complete the scoring.

That methodical, persistent approach to scoring runs is what Murphy is talking about when he refers to his “relentless” team.

“It’s like that annoying, pesky, long at-bat,” he said. “You chip away, swing at the pitch you want to swing at, not lose control of the at-bat. They did a lot of that.”

That approach came in handy after the Brewers suffered what could’ve been a fatal gut punch. Milwaukee took a 3-1 lead in the 11th on a run-scoring grounder by Turang and a perfect safety squeeze bunt by Christian Yelich.

But with the Twins down to their last strike in the bottom of the 11th, former Brewer Carlos Santana launched a two-run homer onto the right-field plaza off reliever Jakob Junis to tie the score at 3.

“After Santana hit the homer, it was a little crazy, but after that, we came back stronger, and that’s great for us,” said Freddy Peralta, who pitched six scoreless innings, walking two and giving up two hits while striking out eight in his best start of the month. In two prior July starts, the right-hander was 0-1 with an ERA of 7.00.

After his teammates’ five-run frame, Junis went back out to put away the Twins, giving up a harmless two-out single to score the automatic runner. Then Chourio ended the game emphatically, racing to his left and diving to nab a line drive by Byron Buxton for the final out.

“I was very excited to get that one,” Chourio said through an interpreter. “When I saw the ball off the bat there was no doubt about it -- I was getting that one.”

Chourio had three hits and drove in two runs, while Turang had three RBIs and scored twice.

After a late first-half slump, the Brewers now have consecutive wins around the All-Star break. And if Peralta’s right, Saturday’s win will set the right tone for the second half of the season.

“I think this game is going to mean a lot because it was the first one of the second half, so now we just keep going that way,” Peralta said. “Everyone has their mind clean, and now, we just move forward from this one.”