Pina's three-run HR caps Crew's comeback win

Pina's three-run HR caps Crew's comeback win

May 14th, 2017

MILWAUKEE -- scored four runs, drove in three and finished a single shy of the cycle for the Mets, but the Brewers mounted their biggest comeback in six years, erasing a six-run deficit for a wild 11-9 win on Mother's Day at Miller Park.
sparked the comeback with a two-run home run in the sixth inning, hit another two-run homer in a three-run seventh, and capped Milwaukee's five-run eighth with a go-ahead, three-run shot that cleared the left-field fence and brought a Sunday crowd of 30,623 to its feet. 's two-run single was just as big in the decisive rally, as the Brewers swept the the three-game series and won for the sixth time in seven games to improve to a season-best four games over .500 at 21-17.

It was the Brewers' biggest comeback for a victory since they erased a 7-0 deficit in an 8-7 win at Minnesota on July 2, 2011.
• Pina adds homer to Mother's Day lore at Miller Park
"I don't know if I've seen anything like that," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "We just kind of chipped away. They answered back. The eighth inning, that was absolutely incredible. Great at-bats by a whole bunch of guys."
"We've been playing good, but I never saw anything like this," said Perez. "The good thing is we don't give up. We still had good at-bats. We kept battling. That's why we win."
The comeback spoiled a huge game for Mets left fielder Conforto, who hit a solo home run in the first inning, walked and scored on catcher 's go-ahead hit in the fourth then doubled home two runs and later scored in the Mets' four-run fifth as New York beat up on Brewers starter . When Conforto tripled and scored in the seventh, he was one base hit shy of becoming the first Met to hit for the cycle since on April 27, 2012.

Conforto got one last crack at the single he needed in the eighth but popped out to shortstop to end the inning.
"I knew," Conforto said. "I obviously was going for it. It didn't work out. I didn't get the easy one."
Nothing has been easy for the Mets, whose latest on a long list of injuries may have hurt the most Sunday. With closer sidelined 3-4 months following surgery for a blood clot, Mets manager Terry Collins threw four different relievers at the Brewers, all of whom surrendered at least one run. Fill-in closer took the loss after Pina's home run.
"This is the big leagues," Collins said. "Their job is to come in and get outs. When you call upon them, they got to come in and do the job.
"We didn't get an out when we needed an out. We didn't make a pitch when we needed a pitch."
• Loss ends frustrating week for Mets
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The hits keep coming: Before Sunday, the Brewers' biggest comeback in a victory was three runs, which they doubled against the Mets thanks to a trio of home runs. The long balls -- Broxton against Mets starter to start the comeback, Villar against reliever and Pina against Reed, gave the Brewers a Major League-leading 63 homers this season.

"I don't think we ever think we can't come back," said Broxton. "[His home run] definitely could have been a turning point to getting the job done. Those [runs] matter."
Rivera strikes again: Rivera, infamous in Brewers circles for his save-busting home run for the Padres off in 2014, starting the Milwaukee slide that led to an organizational rebuild, struck again on Sunday. With the game tied 1-1 in the fourth, the Mets put runners at second and third with no outs against Peralta, who was one strike away from an escape before Rivera grounded a shift-beating single to center field for two runs and a lead the Mets would not relinquish until the eighth. The go-ahead hit prompted a furious reaction from Peralta.

"I threw terrible today," said Peralta, who took solace in the team's win. "That's probably the best comeback I've ever been a part of. We just never give up, man."
QUOTABLE
"I was arguing balls and strikes. It wasn't just that at-bat. I felt like there were some calls missed, specifically on our side, so I decided to let him know."
-- , on being ejected by home-plate umpire Phil Cuzzi after popping out to shortstop in the ninth inning.

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
The Brewers must be momma's boys. They improved to 32-19 all-time on Mother's Day, for a .627 winning percentage that ranks best in Major League Baseball. But they own MLB's worst winning percentage on Father's Day, at 18-32 (.360).
BRAUN REACHES 10-AND-5 RIGHTS
He is on the 10-day disabled list with a left calf strain, but Brewers left fielder nevertheless reached a milestone Sunday when he achieved 10 years of Major League service time. As a player with 10 years of service, the last five with the same team, Braun now gets veto power over any trade.
Previously, per a limited no-trade clause in Braun's contract, the Brewers could trade him to six different teams without consent. In a recent interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Tom Haudricourt, Braun downplayed the impact of his new status.
"When it comes to the trade stuff, I don't think it's very relevant," Braun said. "I think other teams may have the perception that it could be relevant. But because of my relationship with [Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, GM David Stearns and assistant GM Matt Arnold], we communicate so well, and I don't think it will have any effect at all, to be honest."
BREWERS' SHAW EXITS
Milwaukee third baseman injured his right index finger trying to make a play on ' infield hit in the sixth inning and left the game in the seventh. Shaw's run-scoring groundout in the first inning gave him 31 RBIs this season, tied for third-most in the Majors.

WHAT'S NEXT
Mets: With the Mets in desperate need for their starting rotation to perform better, Zack Wheeler will look to build upon his best start since returning from Tommy John surgery when he starts the first game of a three-game series in Arizona on Monday at 9:40 p.m. ET. Wheeler allowed just one run on two hits over six innings against the Giants his last time out.
Brewers: Braun will miss the series while he recovers from a left calf strain, but another former Brewers top prospect who made his Major League debut at Petco Park will be active on Monday for the start of a four-game series in San Diego. 's first big league game was last Aug. 2 against Padres right-hander , who happens to be back on the mound Monday starting opposite Milwaukee's Chase Anderson. First pitch is scheduled for 9:10 p.m. CT.
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