Call to the pen
Fansided

The week’s heroes: Yelich, Toro and Kurt Suzuki

By Bill Felber

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 3: Washington Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki (28) heads home after hitting a walk off 3 run game winning homer during the Washington Nationals defat of the New York Mets 11-10 in the bottom of the 9th inning at Nationals Stadium in Washington, DC on September 3, 2019 . (Photo by John McDonnell/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 3: Washington Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki (28) heads home after hitting a walk off 3 run game winning homer during the Washington Nationals defat of the New York Mets 11-10 in the bottom of the 9th inning at Nationals Stadium in Washington, DC on September 3, 2019 . (Photo by John McDonnell/The Washington Post via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
(Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

7 Christian Yelich, 43 percent

The Brewers opened a two-game series against the AL West leading Houston Astros Monday in Milwaukee. Given the Brewers’ position on the far fringes of both the NL Central and wild card races, they needed every home victory.

But Yordan Alvarez’s sixth inning home run off Brent Suter gave Houston a 2-1 lead, and the Astros bullpen protected that slim advantage through the sixth, seventh and eighth. To open the ninth, Houston manager A.J. Hinch turned the game over to closer Roberto Osuna, whose first assignment was to get Yelich.

The Brewers star came to the plate hitless for the game. But this was the ninth inning of a one-run game, a circumstance made for Yelich’s penchant for dramatics. As he has so often done, he delivered, homering over the left field wall to tie the game 2-2. It was his 43rd of the season.

It was not, however, enough, to spur the Brewers on to victory. After Osuna survived a shaky ninth in which the potential winning run advanced into scoring position, George Springer led off the 10th with a home run of his own. In the bottom of the 10th, Josh James survived a pair of walks by striking out the side, including Yelich among his victims.

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