Turang, Brewers continue to create on the basepaths

MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers couldn’t find the big hit, so two of their fleet-footed sophomores started a game-winning rally with their legs instead.

With the club hitless in its first 24 at-bats with runners in scoring position in the series and having twice left the bases loaded in the first five innings on Wednesday alone, Brice Turang and Blake Perkins pulled off a double steal with two outs in the sixth. That not only tied the game, but awakened the bats for what became a five-run inning in a 5-4 win over the Blue Jays at American Family Field.

“You try to create something sometimes,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “We have it in our bag to be able to do that.”

Turang was at first base and Perkins at third when Turang, whose 24 stolen bases trail only MLB leader Elly De La Cruz of the Reds, took off. Perkins broke home as soon as Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk cut loose a throw that skipped into the outfield for a 1-1 tie.

It was the spark the Brewers needed.

“I don’t remember having too many preconceived thoughts about what the team was going to look like or how we were going to get wins,” Perkins said, “but if you would have told me this was how it was going to go, I wouldn’t be surprised.

“I’m sorry, but down a run, I don’t feel bad about bunting or stealing bases. A lot has to go right on their end to get me out at home. They have to make two great throws and catch the ball and make a tag. And you saw what happened.”

What happened was the sort of clutch hitting spree that had been missing. Before that moment, Brewers hitters had gone 1-for-33 with runners in scoring position since Jackson Chourio’s go-ahead double in Detroit on Saturday, including 0-for-their-last-25 dating to the ninth inning last Sunday.

But after the thievery, William Contreras and Christian Yelich followed with successive RBI singles and Willy Adames provided the exclamation point with a 446-foot two-run home run off the scoreboard.

It appeared to be just what the Brewers needed. Turang has shown a knack for sparking things in his second season -- one reason he’s an All-Star contender with his 2.3 fWAR good for second among MLB’s second basemen.

“He takes a lot of pride in understanding what the situation is,” Murphy said at the start of this week. “He takes a lot of pride in doing his preparation for the pitcher-catcher combination and what their tendencies are, what they may have as tips or clues to what they do.

“And he’s not only been great in stolen bases, the efficiency is pretty special. And the speed really helps. It’s a big part of our offense.”

It doesn’t happen by accident. The Brewers have had that play in their back pocket since Spring Training and have deployed it when the combination of baserunners, game situation and opposing battery is right. Recent results with runners in scoring position “always plays” in decisions as well, Murphy said, though that’s an area the Brewers have been good at this season before their recent funk. They came into Wednesday fifth in the Majors in average and OPS with runners in scoring position.

In this instance, the Brewers knew from their advance scouting how the Blue Jays would defend the play when Turang took off. On the other side of the diamond, Perkins was ready.

“I know if Brice ends up going, I just need to see the throw go,” Perkins said. “See him throw and trust it. We worked on that a lot in Spring Training and then obviously we’ve done it quite a bit in the season.”

The rally came just in time to make a winner of starter Tobias Myers, who followed an eight-inning gem last weekend in Detroit with six innings of one-run, three-hit ball against the Blue Jays.

It also took an escape in the ninth from closer Trevor Megill, who hurriedly warmed up to enter amid a three-run Toronto rally that made it a one-run game. Megill retired pinch-hitter Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a deep lineout to Perkins in center field to seal a victory that began with some small ball.

“You hear Yeli say this a lot,” said Perkins, “the lows we have are hopefully not going to be too long because we can do stuff like that. You’re taking a small risk, but when you’re not getting hits with runners on base, you’ve got to do what you can.”