Adames, Brewers take series win with walk-off in 10

MILWAUKEE -- Another day, another late-inning rally for a Brewers offense that won’t give up.

After being stymied for six innings by White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet, the Brewers continued to torment Chicago’s bullpen for a 4-3 win in 10 innings on Saturday at American Family Field. Willy Adames’ two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning tied the game before his infield single in the 10th won it.

“They’re kind of like woodpeckers,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said earlier in the day. “They keep pecking away. That’s what you just love about a team. They don’t let the score dictate whether they’re going to continue to put a hole in that wood.”

On Saturday, it was another of those days when the Brewers trailed at the seventh-inning stretch for the second straight game but found a way to win for the fifth time in the first six games of this homestand.

In doing so, they continued to prove this isn’t last year’s lineup. After ranking in the bottom half of MLB in runs per game and all three slash line categories -- batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage -- last year, the Brewers went into Saturday as MLB’s second-best scoring offense (5.16 runs per game, trailing only the Phillies’ 5.22 runs per game) and first in batting, first in on-base and fourth in slugging.

Unlike some of their recent clubs, it's not all home runs this year. The Brewers are a Major League-best 11-8 when they don't homer and are one of only two teams going into Saturday's slate of games with a winning record in that circumstance. The Giants (11-10) were the other going into Saturday night.

"Our confidence is through the roof, especially after that series against the Cubs," said Adames, referring to the Brewers taking three of four from former manager Craig Counsell's club. "We were just hoping to win this series because we're going to go face, I think, the hottest team in baseball right now."

By that, he was referring to the MLB-best Phillies, who host the Brewers in a three-game series starting Monday.

But first, the Crew will aim to sweep the Sox on Sunday.

"We've got to do our job here and keep competing," Adames said.

In four of the five victories on this all-Chicago homestand against the Cubs and White Sox, the Brewers have been tied or trailing at the seventh-inning stretch, including on Saturday when they came back from a 3-1 deficit thanks to three walks plus Adames' tying single in the seventh, and spotless relief behind rookie starter Robert Gasser's five innings.

Gasser's outing wasn't as sharp as his first four starts, as he allowed three earned runs on seven hits, including the first two homers against him in the big leagues. Also not particularly sharp, in Murphy's estimation, was the first reliever to follow, Jared Koenig.

But Koenig delivered a scoreless inning and started a trend. Trevor Megill, Joel Payamps, Elvis Peguero and Hoby Milner each faced the minimum three batters in a scoreless inning apiece, with Megill logging three strikeouts in his first appearance since being struck on the right forearm by a line drive on Tuesday and Milner stranding Chicago's free baserunner in the 10th to set up the walk-off win.

"High-leverage Hoby," said Megill. "I loved it."

In the bottom of the 10th, the Brewers faced the triple-digit fastball of Sox reliever Michael Kopech, who'd breezed through the previous inning. He had much more trouble in the 10th, intentionally walking Christian Yelich and throwing a wild pitch on the first offering to Adames that moved the winning run to third base.

Adames' aim was simple.

"Just try to touch the ball, man," Adames said. "He was throwing gas."

Adames did just that. His grounder to the left side glanced off the glove of shortstop Zach Remillard for a winning single.

In a lineup stocked with new names, Adames is one of the few who has been with the Brewers for most of the last three seasons and can appreciate this year's offensive breakthrough. What changed?

"I feel like we have a lot more guys who can run this year and are more comfortable stealing bases, getting in scoring position," he said. "I think that's been the difference this year. ..That puts us in a better spot to get RBIs and bring guys home. Obviously, we've been having so much fun."