Brewers 7, Marlins 5: Christian Yelich's two-run triple is the difference
MIAMI – The Milwaukee Brewers offense needed a lift, and Christian Yelich answered the call.
With two on and two outs in the eighth inning, Yelich roped a triple to the gap in right-center to plate both the tying and go-ahead runs in an eventual 7-5 victory over the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park on Tuesday night.
William Contreras, who drew a key walk just prior to Yelich's hit, drove in three runs and was one of three players with two hits for the Brewers.
Rookie left-hander Robert Gasser went six innings but left the game trailing after the Marlins rallied to take a 6-5 lead against him in the sixth.
Christian Yelich sparks the comeback
Jake Bauers doubled to start the eighth but was one batter away from being stranded at third when Contreras walked to bring Yelich to the plate.
He then lined a two-run triple to the gap in right-center off left-hander AJ Puk to put the Brewers back in front at 6-5. The hit came in a 1-1 count and Yelich turned on a sinker on the inner quadrant. Yelich advanced to third to try and ensure Contreras would score and wound up safe after the throw to the base was wild and skipped to the fencing in front of Miami's dugout.
"I kind of knew that I was probably going to be the one that ended up facing him when William was up there," Yelich said. "I was just kind of feeling the at-bat out and making some adjustments throughout it. I don't know if I ever faced him, honestly."
BOX SCORE: Brewers 7, Marlins 5
One batter later Willy Adames lined a double off the glove of third baseman Emmanuel Rivera -- his second two-bagger of the game -- to provide an insurance run.
Tobias Myers (1-0) pitched a scoreless seventh with Joel Payamps matching him in the eighth. Then, Trevor Megill closed it out to earn his seventh save.
Marlins take the lead in the sixth
Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled to open the sixth and moved to second on an infield single by Tim Anderson.
Otto Lopez dropped down a sacrifice bunt that Contreras fielded and threw over to first for the out on. But the speedy Chisholm never slowed down rounding third and scored easily because Gasser didn't cover home, leaving Contreras having to hustle back to try and make the play on the throw from Jake Bauers.
Emmanuel Rivera singled to drive in Anderson and then went to third when the Marlins executed perfectly on a hit and run. A Dane Myers sacrifice fly to center then allowed Rivera to score the go-ahead run and took Gasser out of the equation for his third victory in as many major-league starts.
William Contreras delivers again
Milwaukee drew its fourth walk with of the night with one out in the fourth with Blake Perkins earning the free pass. He went to second on a passed ball and to third when Andruw Monsterio drilled a single off Trevor Rogers.
After Monasterio stole second, Contreras lined a two-run single to left, upping the Brewers' lead to 4-1.
Miami went on to load the bases against Gasser in the fifth but he escaped by allowing only a run on a sacrifice fly.
Milwaukee wasting opportunities
Rogers walked the leadoff man in each of the first three innings, with two scoring.
Yelich's walk was followed by a Adames double to put runners in scoring position to start the third, but Joey Ortiz flew out to shallow left, Yelich was thrown out at home trying to score on a grounder to third and Jackson Chourio struck out.
Milwaukee through three innings was a brutal 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
The Brewers strike first once again
Monasterio, batting leadoff for the first time this season, drew a leadoff walk and came around to score a batter later when Contreras roped a double to the gap in right-center.
Then in the second, Gary Sánchez drew a leadoff walk and scored three batters later on a Perkins single. Another potential run was erased on a play at the plate when Owen Miller tried scoring from third on a comebacker to the mound.
One time through the order, five of Milwaukee's nine batters hit the ball at least 100 mph or harder.
Miami got one of those runs back in the bottom of the second thanks to an error at second by Monasterio, with consecutive singles eventually pushing it across.
Brewers lineup
William Contreras C
Christian Yelich LF
Willy Adames SS
Joey Ortiz 3B
Gary Sánchez DH
Jackson Chourio RF
Owen Miller 1B
Blake Perkins CF
Marlins lineup
Dane Myers RF
Josh Bell DH
Jake Burger 1B
Jazz Chisholm Jr. CF
Tim Anderson SS
Otto Lopez 2B
Emmanuel Rivera 3B
Brewers schedule
Brewers at Marlins 5:40 p.m. Wednesday: Milwaukee RHP Freddy Peralta (3-2, 4.17) vs. Miami LHP Jesús Luzardo (1-3, 5.02). Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.
Thursday: Off.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers 7, Marlins 5: Christian Yelich's two-run triple is the difference
