Pratt, Chourio and Ortiz survive scary outfield collision in Brewers' win

CHICAGO – The Brewers’ prized 22-year-old left fielder, prized 22-year-old shortstop and resurgent third baseman all converged in shallow left field while running at full speed.

It could have been a catastrophe.

Instead, it produced a sigh of relief on the way to a critical win.

Christian Yelich capped a four-run sixth-inning rally with a go-ahead, two-run home run, William Contreras delivered a pair of key doubles in the late innings and Joey Ortiz put the game away in the eighth with another two-run shot that sent the Brewers to a come-from-behind, 9-4 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Tuesday.

Down 3-0 after a sloppy fourth inning and still trailing going to the sixth, the Brewers rallied for a 36th comeback victory to boost their lead over the Cubs in the NL Central standings to eight games with 23 to play, including five more head-to-head matchups over the next eight days.

And if you’re following the tiebreaker scenarios, the Brewers lead the season series against the Cubs, 5-3, with top starters Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson set to start the next two games.

“I was asked the question last night if you think your guys can bounce back,” said manager Pat Murphy, a nod to Monday’s 17-3 loss in the series opener. “I think they answered it for you.”

Brewers relievers sealed the win with 5 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, but the victory was not without peril. The Brewers endured quite a scare in the bottom of the sixth, when left fielder Jackson Chourio, shortstop Cooper Pratt and third baseman Ortiz all chased a Michael Busch pop-up that spelled trouble. It fell for a double while all three defenders tangled, with Pratt appearing to take the most serious blows.

Multiple athletic trainers were on the scene immediately, and the Brewers were feeling lucky when all three players stayed in the game.

“I think everyone wanted it, which is a good thing,” said Ortiz. “Playing here, it can get loud and you don’t hear anything. … ‘Coop’ looked like he was hurting pretty bad. Making sure he stays on the field is pretty important, so it was good that everyone was all right. Hopefully we won’t do that again.”

Yelich knows the feeling. He’s played many a blustery day in left field in this ballpark.

“I’ve ‘zooed’ my fair share out here on some of those,” said Yelich, earning bonus points for using the word zoo as a verb. “I know it can be tough.”

“That’s why this place is such a home-field advantage,” Murphy said. “It’s so loud, and we’ve got to get used to that. We’ve got [two 22-year-olds] and a guy so talented he’s going to go after every ball. Most third basemen, you’re not even going to get there. It’s the perfect storm. I think it’s the left fielder’s ball, and I think he catches it, but it’s hard to hear you call anybody off.”

Yelich credited lefty reliever JoJo Romero, activated from the injured list earlier in the day for his Brewers debut, for holding the lead in that inning, part of a big night for the bullpen that included Abner Uribe’s scoreless seventh in his own return from the IL.

Credit also went to Milwaukee starter Robert Gasser, who didn’t make it through the fifth inning but impressed Murphy enough that the manager delivered a pep talk on the mound while making the pitching change. He gave Gasser credit for enduring a day on which baseball’s top-ranked (Cubs) and No. 8-ranked (Brewers) defenses by outs above average didn’t exactly stage a clinic in run prevention.

Instead, it was a see-saw game that saw the Cubs take a 3-0 lead in a shaky third inning for the Brewers defense, and the Brewers storm back with four runs in an even shakier showing for the Cubs' defense in the decisive sixth, when reliever Daniel Palencia inherited a 3-1 lead from Chicago starter Matthew Boyd and promptly committed a balk that forced home a run. Then Andrew Vaughn hit a game-tying double into the right-field corner that looked catchable for Seiya Suzuki, who couldn’t come up with it.

That meant Yelich came to the plate with a chance to give the Brewers their first lead of the series, and he did by hitting a two-run shot into right-center-field bleachers for his first home run on the road since Aug. 10 at San Diego.

Yelich proved his manager prescient. He’s been sitting out some starts against left-handed starters lately, but Murphy decided that the club’s unofficial captain was a lock to play Tuesday coming off Monday’s rout.

“I was going to war with Yelich today,” Murphy said. “I knew what kind of effort I was going to get. He’s been through a lot, and he might doubt himself at times. But he also knew there’s a side of him that’s pretty darn special. Careful if he gets hot.”