The Milwaukee Brewers are moving on to the NLCS after beating the San Diego Padres 3-1 on Wednesday night. Garrett Mitchell drove in the first run of the game in the third inning, before Fernando Tatis Jr. tied the game on a solo home run in the bottom of the third. The Brewers added two more runs to make it 3-1. Then, Manny Machado took to the plate in the bottom of the eighth. That is when Mitchell robbed Machado of a game tying home run.
It was a 406-foot loud out for Machado, but almost everyone thought that the ball was gone, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.
“I thought that was wayyy gone,” said Abner Uribe, who threw the 0-1 sinker to Machado.
Even Mitchell, who robbed Machado, thought it may have been gone as well, but just let instinct take over.
“It kind of just happened,” said Mitchell. “Instinctually, just do what I do. Make a good jump and see what happens.”
Mitchell admitted that he got hit while making the grab.
“I got nudged a little bit,” said Mitchell. “I'm not quite sure if I got grabbed, if I just got poked by someone's glove or whatever, but it worked out.”
Article Continues BelowLuckily for Mitchell, the fans did not interfere too much, and he was able to get the grab. His teammate, Sal Frelick, was just happy that Mitchell did not end up in the stands, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“I’m just happy he wasn’t mauled by a fan,” Frelick said.
The Brewers will now have some time to rest and recover. They will face the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS, which begins on Sunday.