MILWAUKEE – The physics of the thing were a little hard to figure. Sal Frelick, the leadoff man of the moment for an injury-depleted Brewers team badly needing a win, beat a baseball into the ground right in front of home plate in the eighth inning when it seemed like Milwaukee might be headed for more heartbreak.
It bounced high in the air while Blue Jays catcher Brandon Valenzuela waited for it to come down in the hope it would spin foul.
Instead, the baseball just… died.
Like it got stuck in the mud.
Maybe it did get stuck in the mud.
Valenzuela fumbled the ball for what was ruled an error and the Brewers had the break they needed in what became a 2-1 win at American Family Field, snapping Milwaukee’s six-game losing streak.
“I don’t know that we’re out of the funk we’re in,” manager Pat Murphy said. “It just feels nice to win a ballgame and have the guys regain some belief.”
They didn’t exactly mash their way to victory, but they didn’t need to. Chad Patrick became the first Brewers starter to get outs beyond the sixth inning and DL Hall, Aaron Ashby and Abner Uribe avoided the sort of relief slip-ups that befell the Brewers during their losing streak. Then it was a flurry of contact and good bounces that erased Toronto’s 1-0 lead in the bottom of the eighth.
David Hamilton led off with an infield single just out of the reach of Blue Jays reliever Tyler Rogers. Frelick followed with his dead ball trick. William Contreras snuck a bouncing single through the right side of the infield to tie the game. Brice Turang followed with another chopper that bounced right over Rogers’ head, allowing Frelick to score for a 2-1 lead.
And that was it. The Brewers, with Uribe’s first save of 2026, found their way back to the win column.
“If we could do anything over, it’s Valenzuela just getting the out there on Frelick’s ball in front of the plate,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “It’s a young guy and that’s a learning play for him. You don’t really see it that much. …
“You never know how the ball is going to spin. At that point, the dirt’s a bit soft out there. Know your runners. You’ve got Hamilton and Frelick who both run really well, so just come out and get your out.”
The Brewers were glad he didn’t.
“I don’t know if it’s luck,” Hamilton said, “but it feels good to have some things go our way.”
Speaking of that, all the while it was absolutely pouring rain outside – and a little bit inside – the Brewers’ domed home, so ferociously that the streets and highways around the ballpark were flooded by the end of the game. American Family Field’s convertible roof is a fan-shaped series of panels that leak in spots when the rain is particularly torrential, or the wind particularly whipping. The usual spots are in the seating bowl in front of the broadcast booths, where the panels meet to pivot, one area near first base and sometimes the outfield warning track.
But Frelick said that over his three seasons with the Brewers, there have also been drips right in front of home plate. That area was getting saturated more than he’d ever seen during the three or so innings leading to the Brewers’ decisive rally.
“I didn’t have a chance to see it, but I’m guessing the ball just died,” Frelick said.
Bingo.
“I remember even getting in the box, it was so wet and soggy,” Frelick said. “All those balls we were hitting off Rogers, the initial bounce was just killing them.”
Talk about good timing.
Rogers annually has one of the highest ground ball rates in the Majors.
“I just know that Sal’s a battler, and I believe in him,” Murphy said. “You know, he’s seldom hit as low as he’s hitting now [Frelick’s batting average sits at .179], but go figure, he’s in the middle of it when we needed it most.
“You’ve got to kind of rely on character, and these guys showed a lot of character by showing up tonight and hanging in there and playing solid and pecking away and not getting frustrated."
In other words, Murphy believes that Brewers hitters earned all of those fortunate bounces by grinding through the first six innings against Blue Jays right-hander Dylan Cease, who came to Toronto on a seven-year, $210 million contract over the offseason to deliver outings just like Wednesday’s. By running his pitch count to 106 by the end of the sixth, they got second looks against some of the same bullpen arms they’d seen the night before.
And thanks to Patrick’s strong outing and plays like left fielder Brandon Lockridge’s leaping catch against the railing in foul ground in the fifth, the game stayed close.
“They won the game during the game by sticking in there,” Murphy said. “We stayed relentless and just picked away.”