'Undaunted' Brewers come roaring back to split series vs. LA

MILWAUKEE -- Maybe it’s natural for young players to get tight as September approaches and the standings start to matter, and if veteran Brewers hitting coach Ozzie Timmons heard chatter like that around the cage, he might be worried.

But he hasn’t, so he’s not.

“I don’t think these guys are paying attention to it,” Timmons said before Thursday’s come-from-behind, 6-4 win over the Dodgers at American Family Field. “The main thing is, don’t be in [bleeping] awe of the [bleeping] Dodgers.”

As if for emphasis, Timmons added, “They’re not invincible.”

The Brewers showed that by scoring late to take each of the final two games of the teams’ four-game series, with a run in the seventh inning on Wednesday night and three in the eighth of Thursday’s series finale, sparked by a double from rookie Jackson Chourio on a day that began with his 15th home run.

For the second straight game, the Brewers didn’t win pretty. After homers from Chourio and William Contreras gave them a 3-0 lead in the first inning, a trio of defensive misplays -- only one of which went into the scorebook as an error -- gave two runs right back. The Dodgers tied the game in the third, pushed ahead in the sixth and were six outs shy of sending the Brewers to what would have been a confidence-shaking loss.

“It wasn’t perfect,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “A lot of points from our young guys where it’s August and they’re still making mistakes. You get kind of emotional about it. But they bounced back.”

Milwaukee’s young hitters dotted the go-ahead rally. Garrett Mitchell followed Chourio’s leadoff double with a walk. After Contreras loaded the bases with an infield hit that caromed off Dodgers reliever Daniel Hudson and Willy Adames tied the game with a single, rookie Tyler Black gave the Brewers the lead with a run-scoring groundout.

The Brewers tacked on another run to offer breathing room to closer Devin Williams, who pitched back-to-back days for the first time this season, having spent all year on the injured list until July 28. He went three-up, three-down for his second straight save, getting through Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts both times. It was Milwaukee's NL-best 33rd comeback win this season.

With that, the Brewers increased their lead to a season-high nine games over the idle Reds and Cardinals in the NL Central standings. And don’t look now, but they pulled within 1 1/2 games of the Phillies and Dodgers for the NL’s best overall record, pending Philadelphia’s game Thursday night.

It’s a surprising place to be on Aug. 15 for a team that traded its ace right before the start of Spring Training and went into the season as an underdog.

“I think what’s impressive is getting beat the way we did in the first two games of this series and then responding the way we did,” said Brewers veteran Rhys Hoskins. “I mean, the Dodgers carry a certain type of aura about them wherever they go. There’s always fans in the stands. They have the who’s who of players. I think we can grab a lot of confidence knowing that we can get punched in the face and get knocked down, and be right back in a series.”

Said Contreras: “Everybody knows the Dodgers are a good team. We know we are as well.”

Aside from a four-game winning streak last week in which they pummeled the baseball to the tune of 42 runs, the young Brewers have looked a little shaky lately. That included third baseman Joey Ortiz being unable to make a tough play in the second inning he usually makes, and Chourio getting his glove on a ball he usually catches, but didn’t, and Sal Frelick squaring to bunt in the seventh inning and pulling back to “slash” as the infielders charged, but popping out instead, and Mitchell falling to 0-for-18 on the homestand before coming back from a 1-2 count in the eighth to coax a key walk.

In a loss, those moments would have hurt. In a win, they were positive learning experiences.

“We know we can compete with anybody,” Chourio said. “Our job is to go out there and show that on the field. … I think I had a lot of good AB’s in this series, and particularly the last two games here. I think a lot of the guys would feel the same way. We were able to come out on top, regardless of what it looked like.”

In a conversation earlier this week, Murphy was reminded of the T-shirts he passed out earlier this season. In the Brewers’ colors and script, they say, “Undaunted.”

“You don’t make the T-shirt because we all can do it,” said Murphy. “You make the T-shirt because you hope for it.”