A sacrifice bunt by Joey Ortiz scored Garrett Mitchell for the go-ahead run as the Milwaukee Brewers edged the visiting Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 on Thursday afternoon.
Milwaukee turned to small ball in the bottom of the seventh to claim the series win. Milwaukee used three straight bunts to take its first lead of the game. Mitchell led off the inning with a walk and a Greg Jones sacrifice bunt moved him to second base with one out.
David Hamilton laid down a bunt single and Milwaukee had runners on first and third. Ortiz’s bunt only dribbled a few feet in front of home plate, but it was enough to score Mitchell for a 2-1 lead.
Angel Zerpa pitched around a leadoff single in the ninth inning to notch his second save.
While neither starting pitcher factored into the decision, they both turned in strong outings. Patrick Corbin struck out six and gave up four hits, one run and a walk in 5 2/3 innings. Brewers starter Brandon Sproat also posted six strikeouts with four hits, one run and one walk as he covered 6 2/3 innings.
Toronto struck first as it opened the top of the third with an Andres Gimenez double that bounced fair over first base. Ernie Clement followed up with a single lined sharply to center field and the Blue Jays had runners on the corners.
Tyler Heineman’s safety-squeeze bunt was tucked inside the first base line and plated Gimenez for a 1-0 Toronto lead.
With a leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth, Brice Turang extended his on-base streak to all 16 games he has played this season. William Contreras lined a cutter into left field and Milwaukee had two men on with no outs.
Luis Rengifo’s sacrifice fly to shallow left field scored Turang, whose headfirst slide to the inside of home plate avoided Heineman’s tag and tied the game at 1-1.
Davis Schneider’s walk and Daulton Varsho’s single opened up the top of the sixth. But Sproat wriggled out of the jam as he induced Vladimir Guerrero Jr. into a double-play groundout, and Jesus Sanchez flew out to left field.
