Travis Shaw goes deep early, then walks it off late in victory

Travis Shaw was the long and short of it for the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night.

It was his solo home run in the second inning that broke the ice against New York Mets ace Noah Syndergaard, and his walk-off walk in the 10th inning that wound up being the difference in a hard-fought 4-3 victory at Miller Park.

Throw in his RBI single in the third inning, and the third baseman drove in three of Milwaukee's four runs in a game that very well could have gone in a different direction following Corey Knebel's blown save with two outs in the ninth.

“He’s been solid and consistent, and he’s just a left-handed presence for us in the middle of our lineup every day and does a heck of a job," said manager Craig Counsell said of Shaw. "There are nights that he’s obviously providing power, and in the end he draws a walk to win it.

"He’s been consistent for sure, and that’s how you measure it over time. He’s been a presence for us.”

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Shaw's homer came off a 98-mph fastball from Syndergaard, who dominated the Brewers the first time they saw him at Citi Field on April 15. It was his team-high 13th of the season, his third in four games on the homestand and seventh in his last 16 games.

It staked Milwaukee to a 1-0 lead that lasted only until the next inning, when Amed Rosario took Junior Guerra deep to tie it.

The Brewers put on their running shoes to take the lead back against Syndergaard in the bottom of the frame. Lorenzo Cain singled, stole second and scored on Christian Yelich's single and then Yelich stole second and scored on Shaw's single to make it 3-1.

“We were pretty aggressive early on," said Shaw. "His pitch count was low the whole day. I was trying to get out of the box as quickly as possible. You never want to get to two strikes with a guy like that.

"Anything that kind of resembles a heater early on you want to jump on, and then he went to the breaking balls and pitched well, but we had already gotten to him.” 

Guerra gave up his second homer of the night in the fourth, a solo shot by Michael Conforto that pulled the Mets to within 3-2.

Guerra kept the score there before departing after six innings and 72 pitches, and Josh Hader struck out four — including the side in the eighth — in his two innings of work before handing the ball over to Corey Knebel in the ninth.

Knebel retired the first two batters he saw before issuing consecutive walks to Conforto and Devin Mesoraco. José Bautista followed by punching a single to left, tying the game at 3-3 and giving Knebel his second blown save of the season.

After issuing yet another walk, Knebel made way for Jeremy Jeffress, who finished out the inning with no further damage.

"I just lost it tonight. That was it," Knebel said. "Nothing happened tonight out of the ordinary. I've walked three guys before in a games. Most times you get out of it. I didn't tonight."

Syndergaard and Seth Lugo combined to retire 14 consecutive Milwaukee hitters before Shaw opened the bottom of the ninth by doubling down the third-base line against the shift with Robert Gsellman on the mound.

Domingo Santana followed with a strikeout, then Ryan Braun was intentionally walked before Shaw made a serious baserunning gaffe. Trying to get a jump on a line drive to left field by Manny Piña, Shaw instead was doubled off easily at second by Brandon Nimmo.

“I’m not very fast, so I’ve got to get going on balls like that," Shaw said. "It’s a bad read. I thought the ball hung up.”

Jeffress (4-0) pitched a scoreless 10th, dropping his ERA to a microscopic 0.33 in the process. He got some major help from Santana, who gunned out Asdrubal Cabrera trying to stretch a one-out single into a double.

The game swung in the Brewers' favor in the bottom half of the 10th, with Eric Sogard singling with one out to start the rally. Recalled from Class AAA Colorado Springs earlier in the day, the utility man snapped out of an 0-for-28 slump with the hit.

"A little bit like last year almost, being able to contribute Day 1," said Sogard, referring to his first callup with the Brewers last May when he hit a go-ahead homer against the very same Mets.

He came close to being doubled off first when Cain hit a long fly ball to center that was caught. Left-hander Jerry Blevins got the call to face Yelich, and he slapped a single to right to put two on.

The Mets went with right-hander A.J. Ramos then, and he proceeded to walk Hernán Pérez on four pitches to bring Shaw to the plate.

“Take until you get a strike," Shaw said of his mindset. "I was ready to go 3-1. I was 100% taking until I got a strike.”

Ramos got a strike over with his second offering to even the count at 1-1, but that would be it. He fired two more balls, then spiked ball four into the ground before it even crossed the plate to give Shaw one of the easier RBI he'll ever record.

It was Milwaukee's fourth walk-off win of the season already, tying their total for 2017, and their first since April 21. The walk-off walk was the team's first since May 27, 2010 against the Houston Astros (Rickie Weeks).

The Brewers still have not lost consecutive games since being swept in their four-game series with the Chicago Cubs from April 26-29 at Wrigley Field. They also improved to 18-0 in games Hader pitches.