Brewers 9, Nationals 5: Mark Canha leads way with electrifying grand slam in eighth inning

Mark Canha might not have been the most recognizable name to switch teams at the trading deadline.

But he's had a bigger impact on the Milwaukee Brewers than anyone could have guessed.

On base a ton and more than capable in the outfield, Canha on Saturday night needed only one swing of his bat to completely change the complexion of a game that had entered the danger zone.

The veteran slugged a two-out, first-pitch grand slam to left field in the eighth inning, lifting the Brewers to a thrilling 9-5 victory over the Washington Nationals at American Family Field.

Coupled with another Chicago Cubs loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field -- this one in 13 innings -- Milwaukee's lead in the National League Central Division standings stretched out to 6 1/2 games as a result, and its magic number to clinch dropped to eight.

The Brewers improved to a season-best 20 games over .500 at 84-64 with the victory while Canha and rookie Sal Frelick finished with three hits apiece.

"He's played incredibly since we acquired him," said manager Craig Counsell of Canha, who is hitting .313 with five homers and 26 runs batted in to go along with an OPS of .878 in 38 games.

"He's been outstanding. Great in every facet, for sure. He's on a good run, in a good place, and it's been a big deal for us, what he's added offensively."

Canha's big swing came a night after another trade acquisition, Carlos Santana, belted a pair of homers to help down the Nationals.

"We added good, solid players to our lineup, and it's just changed our offense, I don't think there's any question about it," Counsell said. "We got a great example the last two nights."

A frustrating eighth inning -- for a while

Washington trailed, 3-0, at the end of the first and 5-1 at the end of the fifth but battled back to make it a one-run game entering the eighth.

Joel Payamps, following Elvis Peguero, was greeted by a swinging bunt for a single by Joey Meneses and the inning only got more frustrating from there.

After Payamps (6-4) recovered to retire the next two batters, Luis García -- whose third-inning homer put the Nationals on the board -- singled to put runners on the corners and Jake Alu followed with a bloop RBI single into short left to tie it at 5-5.

But the Brewers answered right back against Kyle Finnegan.

Already with a homer on the night, Tyrone Taylor started the decisive rally with a one-out double and Frelick followed with an infield single. After William Contreras grounded out, Santana worked a walk to load the bases and bring Canha to the plate.

He wasted no time turning the game around, turning on a 90.8-mph splitter out over the plate and hammering it out to left field for his second career grand slam.

"I was just looking for something kind of in the middle of the plate," Canha said. "I told myself, 'Look middle. Don't think pitch type or anything like that. Just get something up and in the middle that looks big.' Just, trust yourself to identify what you see and let it rip."

Canha knew it as soon as the ball left his bat. He took a full nine steps before beginning his home-run trot, flipping his bat up in the air in dramatic fashion as the crowd of 36,212 went wild.

It was the first go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning or later for the Brewers since Daniel Vogelbach hit one to down the St. Louis Cardinals in walk-off fashion on Sept. 5, 2021.

"That one is right up there with one of the best (moments)," Canha said. "Hitting grand slams is cool. To do it in that moment, when we needed a run desperately, just to pick the team up and to hear the crowd's reaction -- all things considered, it was pretty special."

Predictably, Canha was requested for a curtain call shortly after rounding the bases, and he delivered.

Considering the nightmare season he was enduring with the New York Mets before the Brewers paroled him by exchanging minor-league righty Justin Jarvis on July 31

"It's been awesome," he said. "It feels really good here. Even when I was struggling at the beginning I was like, 'Man, this is kind of a run team to be a part of. Just the way the guys go about it every day, it's real relaxed but professional and just, like, perfect for me.

"I love it."

Said starter Corbin Burnes: "He's done it now for the last month and a half. He's come up big and taken good ABs every time he's up there. It was a big swing."

Hoby Milner tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to finish the game up.

The first inning was a study in contrasts

Burnes, coming off his eight no-hit innings against the Yankees last weekend, struck out the side on 11 pitches in the opening frame.

Trevor Williams, Washington starter and longtime Milwaukee nemesis, wasn't nearly as efficient.

In fact, he needed a Herculean effort to get out of the first inning, throwing 47 pitches as the Nationals bullpen stirred with the Brewers eventually settling for a 3-0 lead.

The first four batters reached base with Canha singling home the first run. A sacrifice fly by Willy Adames and RBI single by Rowdy Tellez followed before Brice Turang struck out and Taylor tapped out to leave the bases loaded.

William Contreras collected his second single in as many innings in the second, which didn't result in any more runs for Milwaukee but did spell the end of the night for Williams after he reached the 70-pitch mark.

"That was the plan going in with Williams -- you have to be patient. You have to give yourself a shot at something because he's going to be on the edges and try to get you to chase a little bit. We did a nice job with it.

"We made him work really hard. Hopefully what they had to go through in the bullpen the last two nights has some carryover to what we can do tomorrow, and we've been doing a good job of that -- making pitchers work for their outs."

Corbin Burnes kept rolling -- until the sixth

García jumped on a cutter Burnes left out over the middle for a leadoff homer in the third, giving the Nationals their first hit and run.

There wasn't much after that for Burnes, who had to sit through several long half-innings thanks to the offense.

He allowed only a single after that until the sixth when a walk and errant pickoff attempt were followed by consecutive two-out singles that cut Milwaukee's lead to 5-2.

Another walk and single followed, making it 5-3. Burnes then went to a full count with García, who was able to check his swing on Ball 4 when everyone else -- Burnes included -- believed he had gone around.

That forced in another run and ended the night for Burnes at exactly 100 pitches.

"I was really happy with how I threw the ball for 5 ⅓, 5 ⅔ innings there," Burnes said. "It was really just the last 3-4 hitters. Got them to two strikes. Made a decent pitch to Meneses that he fisted to right, then the walk and some weak contact and they managed to push three runs across.

"Stuff-wise, I think it was as good as it was the last time out. Just couldn't put them away there in the sixth."

Peguero recorded the third out on his first pitch out of the bullpen and the book was closed on Burnes, who was so dominant early and finished with nine strikeouts but just couldn't finish the Nationals off in the sixth.

Counsell took exception to the suggestion that Burnes struggled in the sixth.

"We always point to what happened to our guy. I think they did a really good job," he said. "He got ahead of them, he made some really good pitches; they didn't bite on them. Give them some credit. They did a really nice job because they made him work, they kept themselves in at-bats.

"They were tough."

Christian Yelich missed another game

After a one-game return to the lineup Friday, leftfielder Christian Yelich was again sidelined as a result of his sore lower back.

"Watching him play yesterday and talking to him this afternoon when he came in, I just don't think we're at 100% yet," said Counsell before the agme. Yelich went 0 for 3 with a walk and run scored in Friday's 5-3 win. "So, I think we should wait until we get there. We'll see when that is. I'm hopeful and optimistic that it's soon."

Brewers schedule coming up

Sunday -- Nationals at Brewers, 1:10 p.m. Washington LHP Patrick Corbin (10-13, 5.13) vs. Milwaukee RHP Brandon Woodruff (5-1, 1.93). TV: Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.

Who's hurt?: Milwaukee Brewers players injury updates for 2023 season

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mark Canha's electrifying grand slam lifts Brewers to 9-5 victory