The Milwaukee Brewers were in excellent shape to take a commanding 2-0 NLCS lead against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday at Miller Park. Milwaukee took a 3-0 lead into the seventh inning, and feature an excellent bullpen, even with Josh Hader unavailable after throwing three scoreless innings in Game 1.
But the Dodgers scored two runs in the seventh against nasty rookie right-hander Corbin Burnes, and in the bottom of the eighth, Justin Turner came to the plate with a runner on first and no outs. And Turner proceeded to crush a 2-0 Jeremy Jeffress offering down the left field line for a go-ahead two-run homer that would serve as the game-winner in the Dodgers’ 4-3 victory.
JT! CLUTCH!
The @Dodgers take the lead on a 2-run homer from Justin Turner! pic.twitter.com/Dn5oF7gjyY
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 13, 2018
Jeffress, 31, had a stunning regular season, with just 11 earned runs allowed in 76 2/3 innings for a 1.29 ERA. But in the 2018 postseason, he’s now allowed four earned runs and a whopping 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings (7.71 ERA). Jeffress regressing or running out of gas is certainly a big concern for the Brewers for the rest of their postseason, and it may make them rely even more — if possible — on Hader and Corey Knebel.
But Jeffress thinks his postseason issues have just been a matter of bad luck, and made that quite clear to the media in his postgame interview.
Jeremy Jeffress, what happened on the bases-loaded walk to Austin Barnes?
"He just got lucky," Jeffress said.
And Justin Turner's crushed go-ahead homer?
"He got lucky," Jeffress said.
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) October 14, 2018
#Brewers reliever Jeremy Jeffress: "You saw the hits. I ain’t got to tell nobody, man. If I say it’s lucky, it’s lucky."
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) October 14, 2018
Whatever the case, the Dodgers were able to even up the series and now have home field advantage as the series heads to Los Angeles. Rookie sensation Walker Buehler will take the mound for the Dodgers against Jhoulys Chacin on Monday in Game 3 as Los Angeles tries to grab the series lead.
