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MILWAUKEE — The biggest momentum swing for the Brewers involved no swing at all.
Jonathan Lucroy — “Mr. Squeeze” to his teammates — drove in the go-ahead run with a bunt and the Brewers broke away from the Diamondbacks 9-4 last night to take a 2-0 lead in their NL division series.
“It’s a free RBI if you execute and I really work hard to get that down,” Lucroy said. “A safety squeeze, all you’ve got to do is get it down to the right area.”
Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer and fellow slugger Prince Fielder added an RBI single for Milwaukee. But the brawny Brewers excel in other ways, especially Lucroy.
“The little things matter,” said Jerry Hairston Jr., who scored on Lucroy’s bunt. “When you have guys like Braunie and Prince with the big power, the little things add up.”
The Brewers hold a 2-0 lead in a postseason series for the first time in franchise history and will go for the sweep tomorrow when Shaun Marcum takes on rookie Josh Collmenter in Game 3 in Arizona.
Lucroy keyed a five-run sixth inning, and delivered right after Diamondbacks reliever Brad Ziegler became angry about a balk call. That’s when rookie Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke put on the play.
“Good teams always take advantage of the other team’s mistakes,” Braun said. “There’s no doubt coming into that inning, they had the momentum.”
With the score 4-all and runners at the corners with one out, Hairston took a couple of half-steps and sprinted home as Lucroy bunted toward first base. Ziegler’s awkward flip went wide of catcher Miguel Montero and the Diamondbacks imploded from there, with Milwaukee taking a 9-4 lead.