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Red Sox Avoid Sweep by Brewers

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jarren Duran delivered a tiebreaking RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning to help the Red Sox avoid a three-game sweep by beating the visiting Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 on Sunday.

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After Ceddanne Rafaela led off the inning with a double, Duran singled against reliever Elvis Peguero (4-2) on the next pitch.

Kenley Jansen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his ninth save of the season. Justin Slaten (3-2) got the win by striking out the side in the eighth.

The victory came after Milwaukee prevailed 7-2 on Friday and 6-3 Saturday. It improved Boston’s record to 9-0 on Sundays.

After the top of the seventh, Red Sox reliever Chris Martin and Brewers first base coach Quintin Berry got into a heated discussion, causing the benches and bullpen to spill out onto the field near first base. No punches were thrown and no ejections occurred.

Wilyer Abreu collected three of Boston’s nine hits and scored a run. Rafaela went 2-for-3.

Gary Sanchez had a single and a double and was the only Milwaukee player with more than one hit. The Brewers struck out nine times.

Boston received a strong start from Tanner Houck, who limited the Brewers to one run on seven hits in six innings. Houck recorded seven strikeouts and walked one.

Milwaukee starting pitcher Tobias Myers allowed a run on six hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out four and didn’t walk a batter.

The Red Sox opened the scoring in the fourth. Abreu led off with a triple and scored when Rafael Devers hit a sacrifice fly to right field.

Milwaukee tied the game at 1 in the fifth when Oliver Dunn singled, stole second and scored on a William Contreras single to center.

Boston outfielder Tyler O’Neill, who left Saturday’s game with a sore knee, did not play Sunday.

It was the finale of a nine-game road trip for Milwaukee, which went 4-5.

–Field Level Media

Brewers’ Five Run 3rd Inning Downs Sox

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Milwaukee Brewers benefitted from a solo home run from second baseman Brice Turang and scored five runs in the third inning en route to a 6-3 road victory Saturday in Boston over the Red Sox.

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Turang’s homer, his third of the season, came against Zack Kelly and increased Milwaukee’s lead to 6-2 in the eighth.

The five-run third featured two doubles, three singles and a walk.

After Christian Yelich doubled and Willy Adames drew a walk, the Brewers received RBI singles from Jake Bauers, Gary Sanchez and Sal Frelick to build a 3-0 lead. Joey Ortiz followed with a two-run double that drove in Bauers and Frelick to increase the lead to 5-0.

Six consecutive batters reached base with two outs.

All five runs were scored against Boston starting pitcher Nick Pivetta (2-3), who exited the mound with one out in the fourth. He gave up seven hits, struck out three and walked three.

The Brewers used Jared Koenig as an opener for the second straight game. He threw 15 pitches Saturday after throwing 12 pitches during Milwaukee’s 7-2 victory on Friday night.

Colin Rea (4-2) replaced Koenig on the mound with one out in the second. Rea limited Boston to two runs on three hits in 5 2/3 innings. Trevor Megill struck out David Hamilton with two runners on base to end the game and earn his eighth save.

Bauers, Frelick and Ortiz each collected two hits for the Brewers, who outhit Boston 11-5.

The Red Sox didn’t get a hit until Rafael Devers led off the seventh with a double against Rea. Devers scored on Wilyer Abreu’s one-out double to trim Milwaukee’s lead to 5-1, and then Ceddanne Rafaela’s two-out single drove in Abreu to make it 5-2.

After Turang’s homer pushed Milwaukee’s lead to 6-2, Rafaela drove in Devers with a two-out single in the ninth to complete the scoring.

Devers had two of Boston’s five hits. Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran entered Saturday’s contest with a nine-game hitting streak, but that ended after he went 0 for 4.

Boston’s Tyler O’Neill left Saturday’s game with right knee soreness.

-Field Level Media

MLB Postseason: D-Backs at Brewers

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MILWAUKEE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Milwaukee Brewers will turn to ace right-hander Corbin Burnes when the National League Central champions host the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday in the opener of the best-of-three wild-card series.

Burnes (10-8, 3.39 ERA) will be opposed by rookie right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (3-9, 5.72 ERA), facing the Brewers for the first time. Arizona (84-78) won four of the six regular-season meetings with Milwaukee (92-70).

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The Brewers received devastating news Monday when they learned that right-hander Brandon Woodruff, scheduled to pitch the second game, would miss the entire series with a right shoulder injury, with the remainder of the postseason in doubt.

“We’ve got good pitching, we’ve got really good pitching,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Monday. “We feel good about how we’re going to get through this series with a lot of guys on the mound. Giving the ball to Corbin on Day 1 is as good a feeling as you can have.”

The Diamondbacks, in the postseason for the first time since 2017, finished the regular season with four consecutive losses but secured the final wild card on Saturday when other contenders also lost.

Arizona was 52-39 at the All-Star break and tied with the Dodgers for the NL West lead but finished 16 games behind Los Angeles. The Diamondbacks, who lost 110 games in 2021, are just the third team in major league history to go from a 110-plus loss season to the playoffs within three years.

“It’s a first for a lot of people, not just our pitcher, and I think there’s just a certain readiness that they’ll all have because they’ve worked hard to get here,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “The team is extremely hungry, they have a lot to prove, they’re very connected, and we feel like we’re very dangerous.”

In getting swept by Houston to end the season, the Diamondbacks scored just two runs and were 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position. Arizona also used its two top starters, Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, against Houston.

Milwaukee, appearing in the postseason for the fifth time in six seasons, was 27-13 over its final 40 games.

Catcher William Contreras brings an 18-game hitting streak into the playoffs. He hit .342 (52-for-152) with five homers, 11 doubles, 24 RBIs, 25 walks and 33 runs over his final 39 games.

Milwaukee improved its offense with the trade deadline acquisitions of Mark Canha and Carlos Santana. Canha’s 33 RBIs from Aug. 1 to Oct. 1 trailed only Contreras (34) for most on the team. Santana had 11 homers and 33 RBIs in 52 games after being acquired from Pittsburgh.

Outfielder Tyrone Taylor, injured much of the first half, hit .291 (23-for-79) over his final 23 games with five homers, nine doubles and 17 RBIs.

“These guys have done it for a lot of years, so adding them to our lineup, it lengthens it a bit,” said outfielder Christian Yelich. “I just feel like we have quality at-bats up and down the lineup and it puts a lot of pressure on people.”

Burnes was 1-1 with a 2.51 ERA in five starts in September, including three scoreless starts. In his final two outings, he scattered seven hits over nine scoreless innings.

Burnes struck out 200, the third consecutive season he reached that mark, and walked 66. Opponents are batting .200 against him, but just .183 in September.

Burnes is 2-1 in five career starts vs. Arizona, including 1-1 with 4.85 ERA in two games this season.

Pfaadt was 2-2 with a 4.32 ERA in five appearances in September, including four starts. In two of his last three starts, he did not allow a run.

In his last start, he allowed five hits over 5 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out eight and walking none in a crucial 3-0 win over the White Sox.

Arizona right fielder Corbin Carroll, the likely NL Rookie of the Year, had 25 homers and 76 RBIs, hitting .285.

–Field Level Media