NEW YORK -- Joey Ortiz got baseball’s version of a mulligan, and he didn’t miss.
Ortiz’s first career grand slam was a tie-breaking shot to the left-field seats in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Citi Field on Wednesday, capping a five-run sixth inning that sent the Brewers to a 7-2 win over the Mets while scoring some redemption for Milwaukee’s surging shortstop.
“The game came back to Joey,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “It always does.”
Two innings earlier, Ortiz had batted against Mets starter Clay Holmes in the exact same situation: Tie game, one out, bases loaded, pitcher struggling with command. Holmes had just walked three hitters in a row, so it raised the manager’s ire when Ortiz swung at the first pitch and hit a bouncer to third base for an inning-ending, rally-killing double play.
But then came another opportunity in the sixth, with Mets reliever Reed Garrett similarly struggling to find the strike zone and the game tied once again after Brice Turang’s RBI double extended the second baseman’s career-best hitting streak to 14 games.
Isaac Collins followed with a single and Jake Bauers walked to load the bases for Ortiz, who continued a recent hot streak by connecting with a cutter in a 3-and-1 hitter’s count for his fourth home run in his last six games -- after two home runs in his first 77 games.
“Like Rhys [Hoskins] always says,” Ortiz said, “you have to keep walking up there because you’re going to have another shot.”
Let’s just say that Ortiz’s manager was happy to see a different approach when Ortiz found himself presented with a do-over.
“He wouldn’t have got that second [chance] if it were up to me because I would have tased him,” said Murphy, who, yes, was joking. “The guy walked three in a row and he swung at the first pitch and hit a pull-side grounder. … So I was ready to tase him.
“I think he knew that and responded pretty well.”
It was part of a power-packed opening game for the Brewers, who also got solo home runs from Sal Frelick, leading off the game, and from Collins in the eighth to back Freddy Peralta’s quality start for Milwaukee’s 23rd victory in its last 32 games. Collins, coming off a .919 OPS in June, started July by reaching safely five times on a walk and four hits, finishing a triple shy of the cycle.
But the whole sequence started with Turang, who greeted Garrett with a first-pitch double that tied the game at 2. The next three batters then went single, walk, grand slam.
“One hundred percent that put some pressure on them, for sure,” Collins said of Turang’s quick strike. “That definitely rattles pitchers coming out of the bullpen. You put a double down the line, opposite field, first pitch, that definitely gets him thinking a little bit. There was never any panic in the dugout today, it was just one through nine, quality at-bats.”
The Brewers have done a lot of that during a hitting spree that dates to May 18, when they were coming off being shut out four times in the span of five games against the Guardians and Twins.
The Brewers promptly rattled off a three-game winning streak while scoring five runs in each game, then kept going. Over their next 39 games through Game 1 of Wednesday’s doubleheader, the Brewers scored at least four runs 27 times while ranking first in the Majors in on-base percentage, second in batting average and third in runs scored and OPS.
“You start with the top of the lineup having good at-bats, seeing lots of pitches, putting good swings on balls, getting deep into counts, it just carries over to the next guy,” Collins said. “That’s really all it’s been lately. Top of the lineup, bottom of the lineup, everybody is contributing.”
So are the pitchers. During their 23-9 stretch from May 25 through Wednesday’s opening game, Brewers starters posted a 3.20 ERA. Only the Pirates (3.12 ERA) could boast better in that span.
“I know all of [the Mets] and they are really good hitters,” said Peralta, who weathered a 25-pitch first to allow two runs on two hits in six innings, combining with Nick Mears and DL Hall on a two-hitter. “My plan was to attack them and try to make then swing early.”
The Brewers had more firepower awaiting the Mets in Game 2, with rookie right-hander Jacob Misiorowski set to make his New York debut.