Shaw's big night keys win in extras vs. Mets

MILWAUKEE -- Travis Shaw and Christian Yelich were in the dugout a few minutes before Friday's game against the Mets when Yelich called Shaw's shot against Mets ace Noah Syndergaard.
"You're going to take him deep tonight," Yelich predicted.
He was right.
But did Yelich predict the walk-off walk nine innings later?
"No, he didn't call that one," Shaw said, smiling. "He was in my way, though."
Before Shaw could seal a 10-inning, 4-3 win at Miller Park with a winning, five-pitch walk from wild Mets reliever AJ Ramos, he had to motion Yelich to take a step one way or the other from his position off second base. Ramos' first pitch to Shaw had disappeared in Yelich's white uniform.
That matter of positioning settled, Shaw was able to put the finishing touches on a three-hit, three-RBI night when he bailed out Brewers closer Corey Knebel after a blown save in the ninth. It began with Shaw's team-leading 13th home run off Syndergaard in the second inning and ended with the Brewers' first walk-off walk since Rickie Weeks took one against the Astros in 2010.

Ramos spiked a 3-1 fastball in front of home plate to score Eric Sogard, fresh up from Triple-A Colorado Springs, who'd sparked the Brewers' winning rally with a single to end an 0-for-28 drought in the Major Leagues.
It was Shaw's second career walk-off plate appearance. The other was his two-run home run off the Cubs' Wade Davis last September.
"He's never out of control, never in a panic," said Sogard. "With that swing, he can handle any pitch. It's really impressive. He got the job done and didn't even need to swing tonight."
Shaw got the job done after Knebel could not.
Milwaukee starter Junior Guerra needed just 72 pitches for six quality innings, and left-hander Josh Hader added four more strikeouts to his ledger in two scoreless frames before Knebel took the mound seeking his third save in five days.

He retired the first two men he faced on eight pitches before issuing back-to-back walks to Michael Conforto and Devin Mesoraco. That extended the inning for José Bautista to ground a tying single through the left side of the infield.
Another walk to pinch-hitter Luis Guillorme loaded the bases and prompted Brewers manager Craig Counsell to lift Knebel in favor of Jeremy Jeffress, who escaped that jam, then pitched the 10th for his 22nd consecutive scoreless appearance.

"I just lost it tonight. That was it," Knebel said. "Everyone has them. I've had them plenty of times. I know exactly what to do. Get over it, be ready for tomorrow."
Knebel's lapse of command spared Mets ace Syndergaard his first loss in his four starts against Milwaukee. He entered the night with a 0.49 ERA in three previous starts, but Shaw put the Brewers on the board with a solo home run to straightaway center field leading off the second inning, and Yelich and Shaw delivered run-scoring singles in the third.
Before the Mets' rally in the ninth it appeared that would be enough to make a winner of Guerra, who gave up solo home runs to Amed Rosario in the third inning and Conforto in the fourth but never let the Mets mount a multi-batter rally.
Their 11th win in 14 games pushed the Brewers back to 12 games over .500 at 32-20, three games better than the second-place Pirates in the National League Central.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Double trouble: An inning before they won it, Shaw put the Brewers in position to win in regulation when he punched a shift-beating double past third base to lead off the bottom of the ninth. But three batters later, after the Mets intentionally walked Ryan Braun to face Manny Piña instead, Shaw was doubled off second base on Pina's lineout to left field.

"I'm not very fast, so I've got to get going on balls like that," Shaw joked. "It's a bad read. I thought the ball hung up."
Slump snapped: Sogard's last hit in a Major League game was a second-inning single on April 17 in Cincinnati. Recalled from the Minors on Friday after the Brewers demoted starting shortstop Orlando Arcia, Sogard entered as part of a seventh-inning double switch and struck out looking his first time up, extending his hitless streak to 28 at-bats. With one out in the 10th against Robert Gsellman, Sogard singled to start the Brewers' winning rally.
"I think he was the guy I was looking for after the ballgame," said Counsell. "That he helped us win a ballgame makes him feel good, and on his first night back."
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Domingo Santana struck out in a key spot in the ninth inning but came through defensively in the top of the 10th. He fired a perfect strike to second base to deny the Mets' Asdrúbal Cabrera from stretching a single to a double. That play helped Jeffress pull within one scoreless appearance of John Axford's franchise-record 23 in a row in 2013.

HE SAID IT
"It's definitely the new baseball that we're playing. You just get outs and get to the bullpen. The bullpen has been pretty successful, so as long as it keeps working we've got to keep going at it." -- Guerra, on being pulled in favor of the Hader-Knebel duo

UP NEXT
The Brewers and Mets return to Miller Park for the third game of their four-game series Saturday afternoon when Chase Anderson (4-3, 3.86) gets the start for the Crew at 3:10 p.m. CT. Anderson threw six solid innings of two-run ball Monday versus the D-backs, his first start since May 6. Saturday is the sixth game of the Brewers' 10-game homestand, which will conclude with a series against the Cardinals beginning Monday. Jason Vargas (1-3, 9.87) will get the nod for Mickey Callaway's club.