Rowdy's rocket propels Crew to Game 1 win

MILWAUKEE -- The 40,852 clad in blue and gold were begging. They saw dazzling defense and an electric Corbin Burnes carve up a Braves lineup that can strike from any spot in the order. They saw a scoreless deadlock linger into the seventh inning. They needed something to erupt for, celebrating the Brewers' first home playoff game -- with fans in attendance -- since 2018.

They got their moment, and they got Rowdy.

The Brewers were competitive in Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Braves on Friday because of their pitching and their defense, but they won it, 2-1, because of Rowdy Tellez’s two-run home run in the seventh inning. And Tellez can even take partial credit for the former; a double play he spurred in the opening frame was dubbed by his manager as “the play of the game,” saving what could have been a disastrous start for both Burnes and the home faithful.

But it was the chants of “Row-dy!” filling American Family Field after Tellez touched home plate that stole the afternoon, bellows that flowed out onto jubilant concourses after Josh Hader’s final out, when there was something of greater importance to celebrate: a 1-0 lead in the NLDS.

“They always talk about blacking out or being unconscious. That's what it was. I had that moment,” Tellez said. “As soon as it left the bat, I knew. I kind of [blacked out] and flipped the bat and started jogging. It's crazy. Getting a standing ovation, hearing a whole full stadium chant your name, that's a special feeling.”

Tellez’s timely tater was Milwaukee’s first go-ahead homer in the seventh inning or later of a postseason game since Game 3 of the 1981 American League Division Series, when Ted Simmons and Paul Molitor both accomplished the feat. Those are the only three instances in Brewers history; Tellez’s is the only one to have been hit in Milwaukee.

“I still can't really breathe,” Tellez said. “That's Brewers baseball. Fans are back. It's awesome to have fans back.”

Tellez is grateful he took one breath in particular. The pitch before Charlie Morton’s center-cut fastball, he fouled off an outside four-seamer and thought he saw something fly off his bat. He wasn’t sure if it broke any wood, but it was a chance for him to recollect himself.

“The bat boy didn't even realize [the bat was broken],” Tellez recounted. “I kind of just collected my breath and calmed myself, got back in the box and I said, ‘Keep my foot down, just see the pitch and hit the ball hard.’ That's all I wanted to do.”

And it was a moment that was close to naught for Tellez, who missed 17 games down the stretch in September with a patella strain to his right knee, forcing him to watch from the sidelines as his teammates clinched the NL Central crown. But under the watchful and proactive eye of the Brewers’ training staff, he was able to appear in four games in the season’s final week; two with Triple-A Nashville and two against the 106-win Dodgers, against whom he reached base three times in seven plate appearances.

“We were fortunate that he got himself healthy, the training staff did a heck of a job,” said manager Craig Counsell. “It just gave him confidence going into this series.”

Indeed, it gave Tellez the confidence to also do what he did in the first inning. The Braves had Burnes on the ropes, with back-to-back walks and 17 pitches to open his ledger before an out was recorded.

And then, Tellez turned two.

The 26-year-old first baseman collected an Ozzie Albies dribbler just barely fair up the first-base line, stepped on the bag and fired home to Omar Narváez, who picked the tough one-hopper to tag out Jorge Soler trying to score from third on contact.

Here’s how the Brewers and Braves described the play and its aftermath.

Counsell: “It was the play of the game.”

Tellez: “Those are the kind of instinctual things that you really just don't think about.”

Burnes: “Without that play, that's obviously going to be a couple runs and that changes the momentum of that game.”

Tellez: “I made a terrible throw. I've got a good catcher back there; he's an All-Star for that reason.”

Right-hander Adrian Houser: “Narvy's been great. … We trust him back there. He can block it all up for us when we need to.”

Tellez: “That whole play doesn't happen without [Narvy]. You guys giving me credit for that -- I don't know why, he made the great play. That's something that a lot of people are going to overlook and that's something that we as a group of guys in that clubhouse are going to know, everybody has each other's backs.”

Morton: “After those first couple of batters, [Burnes] just really settled in.”

Braves manager Brian Snitker: “They get out of an inning like that, and things happen like they did.”

Burnes: “Rowdy making that play there obviously gave us the momentum, but it stopped their momentum.”

The play sent American Family Field into a tizzy. But it was merely a prequel for Tellez’s second act.