Brewers thinking sweep after marathon win over Mets
Conventional wisdom suggests the team that wins an 18-inning game will feel a lot better heading into the next contest than the team that lost an 18-inning game.
But even beyond the momentum generated by a marathon win, there's little doubt the Milwaukee Brewers appear to be in much sturdier shape heading into Sunday's series finale against the visiting New York Mets.
The Brewers will look to follow up one of the longest wins in team history by completing a sweep of the Mets when the two teams play their final scheduled game of the regular season.
The first pitch Sunday will be thrown fewer than 15 hours after Ryan Braun's career-high sixth hit, a two-run single in the bottom of the 18th inning, lifted the Brewers to a 4-3 win Saturday night. It was the longest game for Milwaukee since a 10-9, 19-inning win over the Chicago White Sox on May 1, 1991.
"That's a game you badly want to win, because if you do win it, it feels like you won two or three games," Braun said afterward. "If you lose, it feels like you lost 10."
The loss could be an especially frustrating one for the Mets, who took the lead on Jeff McNeil's RBI single in the top of the 18th only to become the first visiting team in more than a quarter-century to squander a lead that late in extra innings since the Los Angeles Dodgers scored in the top of the 20th inning but gave up two runs in the bottom half to fall to the Philadelphia Phillies 7-6, on July 7, 1993.
The Mets, who played their longest game since a 3-1, 18-inning win over the St. Louis Cardinals on July 19, 2015, also fell under .500 (16-17) for the first time this season with Saturday's defeat. But manager Mickey Callaway preferred to look on the bright side of things: The Brewers had to play 18 innings Saturday, too.
"Anytime you play 18 innings, it puts you in a bit of a bind," Callaway said. "Now, they have to come out and play the same game we have to play tomorrow."
Yes, but the Brewers will have a decided advantage with right-hander Zach Davies (3-0, 1.38 ERA), who would have the lowest ERA in the majors if he had enough innings pitched to qualify for the leaderboard.
He will face Mets left-hander Jason Vargas (1-1, 5.75 ERA), whose ERA is the 20th-highest among pitchers who have made at least five starts and whose 20 1/3 innings is next-to-last, ahead of only Tampa Bay Rays "opener" Ryne Stanek.
Davies earned the win in his most recent start last Monday, when he gave up an unearned run over 5 1/3 innings as the Brewers beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-1.
He briefly became the ERA leader the next night, when the Cincinnati Reds' Luis Castillo took the mound against Vargas and the Mets and saw his big league-best ERA rise from 1.23 to 1.45 after he gave up two runs over 6 2/3 innings in the Reds' 4-3, 10-inning loss to New York.
Davies has thrown 32 2/3 innings for the Brewers, who have played 35 games. A pitcher must throw at least one inning per team game played in order to qualify for the ERA title.
Vargas held his own against Castillo on Tuesday, when he gave up one run over a season-high 5 1/3 innings. The soft-tossing 36-year-old has surrendered one run apiece in each of his last three starts, though he's lasted just 14 innings in that span.
Davies is 2-2 with a 5.76 ERA in six career starts against the Mets. Vargas is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in two starts against the Brewers.
--Field Level Media
