MILWAUKEE – The home run was nice. The three-game sweep was nicer.
But it was the bat flip that 36,451 fans may remember most about William Contreras’ walk-off, three-run homer for a 3-1 Brewers win over the Marlins on Sunday at American Family Field.
“I’ve got that going 40 feet in the air,” said Garrett Mitchell, who watched from the on-deck circle.
“He’s learning how to express himself,” manager Pat Murphy said with a grin.
What a time for Milwaukee’s All-Star catcher to express himself. Shut out on a pair of singles through the first eight innings on Sunday, Jackson Chourio led off the bottom of the ninth with a single and Brice Turang walked before Contreras hammered a hanging cutter from Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks and sent his bat flying in the air along with the baseball.
“It was the only thing that passed through my mind in the moment,” Contreras said. “Just enjoying the game out there.”
Contreras didn’t start the game (he entered as a pinch-hitter in the seventh), but he sure finished it, smacking home run No. 10 this season and the second walk-off home run of his career. He was looking for a fastball. When Fairbanks went offspeed in a 1-2 count, Contreras was able to adjust in an instant.
You didn’t need Brewers translator Daniel de Mondesert to understand Contreras’ description of what the moment felt like.
“Increíble. Increíble,” Contreras said in Spanish.
The Brewers’ second walk-off win of the series – Mitchell singled home the game-winner in the bottom of the 10th inning on Friday – gave them a three-game sweep of Miami coming out of the All-Star break and pushed Milwaukee back to 25 games over .500 with their 100th game of the regular season on tap Monday night – a premium pitching matchup of Jacob Misiorowski against former teammate Freddy Peralta and the Mets.
They’ll have a hard time matching the drama of Sunday’s finish.
“Credit to our guys that we hung in and pitched the way we did, defended the way we did,” Murphy said. “Then we’re in the position to do it on a big swing from William. You can’t make that up. It’s got to be a guy who knows he can.
“I hope he gains more and more confidence. This kid is just scratching the surface of how big this kid can be.”
Murphy gave Contreras the day off Sunday as a breather after a busy All-Star break, in which Contreras was the only player to appear for a Brewers team with the second-best record in baseball. But with Marlins starter Eury Perez finally out of the game in the seventh after six dominant innings, Murphy deployed Contreras as a pinch-hitter in the seventh with the aim of getting two at-bats from him.
The first wasn’t great. Contreras swung at Ball 4 for a strikeout to start the seventh.
“He’s tough on himself,” Murphy said. “He can be tough on others and tough to relate to sometimes, but he’s a fierce competitor. I’d like to see him believe in himself a little more. You guys might be surprised by that.”
Yes, that came as a surprise. Contreras, never known for lacking in self-belief, conducted his postgame interview wearing sun glasses.
“It’s a little bit harder” as a mid-game replacement, Contreras said. “I’m not necessarily accustomed to coming into the game later on in the game, but nonetheless, it’s something I need to adapt to and get better at. I’m happy I was able to put that swing on it.”
Left-hander Robert Gasser started Sunday’s series finale for Milwaukee and delivered five effective innings, burned only by one sweeper below the strike zone which Esteury Ruiz golfed to the left field seats for a solo homer.
Those two players are linked because they came to the Brewers together from the Padres in the Josh Hader trade in 2022. They didn’t remain Milwaukee teammates long; the Brewers flipped Ruiz in a three-team deal that December that landed Contreras from the Braves.
Besides that one swing, Gasser kept the Marlins at bay, allowing that lone run on three hits over five innings, with no walks and five strikeouts. Chad Patrick followed with two scoreless innings and Aaron Ashby and Grant Anderson with a scoreless inning apiece to keep it a one-run deficit into the bottom of the ninth, when it was time to watch out for flying baseballs – and bats.
Thankfully, no one was injured in the making of the Brewers’ bat flip of the year. Contreras’ lumber eventually landed safely along the foul line.
“Hey, he’s a professional,” Mitchell said.