Brewers 6, Angels 3: Sal Frelick saves the day with home run robbery for the final out

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Sal Frelick, all 5 feet 8 inches of him, made a giant play on Tuesday night.

With Taylor Ward's two-out drive to right-center field destined to land over the fence and tie the score in the ninth inning, the Milwaukee Brewers spark plug used every inch of his frame to save the game.

His leaping grab at the wall brought back what would have been a three-run home run, sealed a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels and snapped a five-game losing streak for the Brewers at Angel Stadium that dated all the way back to June 15, 2010.

Box score: Brewers 6, Angels 3

"I was thinking tie score," said manager Pat Murphy. "But if Sal's near it, it's going in his glove 99.9% of the time."

Luckily for the Brewers, that's exactly what happened to end a game that never should have gotten to that point.

They led, 6-0, going into the ninth thanks to a Christian Yelich home run – the 200th of his career – three runs batted in from Jackson Chourio and another tremendously pitched game by rookie Tobias Myers.

Yet Milwaukee ended up in survival mode after the combination of Elieser Hernández and Joel Payamps combined to allow three runs to score and two more runners to reach base in the ninth, ruining what should have been a clean-up effort for Hernández alone.

That brought one of the Angels' best power hitters in Ward to the plate as the potential tying run and forced Murphy to have to call upon closer Trevor Megill.

He quickly got ahead in the count, 0-2, but Ward battled to the fifth pitch – a 97.5-mph fastball right over the heart of the plate that Ward barreled up and drove to center.

"Off the bat, I thought it was a homer, for sure," said Yelich, who watched the play unfold from left. "You're kind of like, 'Oh man, that's a bummer.' Then you see him tracking it and kind of lining it up, and then from the side you can tell it's going to be close."

Indeed, Frelick quickly made his way to the wall, timed his leap perfectly and brought the ball back to end the game. Much of the crowd of 27,967 sat in stunned silence in the immediate aftermath while the Brewers celebrated as the umpires gathered for a review of the play.

When the obvious became official and the out call was upheld, Frelick officially had the latest, greatest catch by a Milwaukee centerfielder as he joined the likes of Carlos Gómez, Lorenzo Cain and, this season, Blake Perkins.

And Milwaukee had avoided blowing a six-run lead to the third-worst team in the American League by record.

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"We were in no-doubles, so I was already a little further back, trying to keep everything in front of us," said Frelick, who also had two hits, scored two runs and drew a walk at the plate to round out his evening. "He put a great swing on the ball and I was already playing (toward right-center) on him; that's what the scouting report said. Really, I was in a perfect spot from our staff.

"I had to take three steps back and jump. So, really not that crazy of a play. It was just, I think, right spot, right time. Just got to the wall and tried jumping straight up and keeping it in."

Afterward, Murphy could only marvel at a conversation he had before the game with Angels outfielders Mickey Moniak and Jo Adell.

"They were doing a drill, robbing home runs," Murphy said. "We stood in the outfield and I said, 'Hey guys, let me ask you something. Is it me, or have we had more robbed home runs this year than ever in the existence of the game?'

"And then the game ends like this tonight?"

Until Tuesday, it was the catch that Perkins made to rob Lars Nootbaar of a homer in St. Louis on April 21 that stood as the Brewers' top robbery.

Last year, Frelick made what was probably Milwaukee's best catch when he made a spectacular play in right-center at Yankee Stadium while crashing into Joey Wiemer to keep a no-hitter going in the 10th inning.

"That was physically harder," Frelick said of last year's catch. "Both cool, both kind of same situations. We're always running around out there trying to make catches. But there's certain scenarios you get in where you have to go after everything; have to have a perfect read, prep step and everything.

"You get kind of locked in during those moments and both were very similar."

Frelick's catch in this one locked down Megill's 14th save, with each of the last two coming courtesy of dynamic plays by his centerfielders. On Sunday, it was Perkins who fired a strike home on a single to cut down the potential tying run.

"I didn't think the ball was going that far," Megill said of Ward's drive. "But it just kept going, and then I saw him jump and make the play. I honestly didn't think it was going that far.

"It saved us the game, and that's exactly the kind of play that you know our guys make."

What a stretch by Tobias Myers

Myers has gone from minor-league journeyman to difference maker in the rotation in a very short time.

He continued his recent run of terrific starts in this one, holding the Angels scoreless over six innings and 90 pitches. Myers (4-2) scattered four hits and two walks while striking out six and has allowed just one earned run over his last 20 ⅓ innings over three starts.

Myers also lowered his ERA to 3.26, underscoring his importance to an injury-ravaged rotation that has already seen 12 pitchers start at least one game.

"I think it's up there probably higher than it's ever been," Myers said when asked how his confidence has been growing. "I'm just excited to help this team win. I feel like I'm doing a good job of just staying consistent and giving myself a chance to go out there in the fifth, sixth and seventh every time.

"That's my main goal, just to get into the sixth every outing and help my team win."

The only spot of trouble he faced came in the sixth when the first two batters reached for the Angels, but Myers recovered with a strikeout and a double-play grounder. He was replaced by Enoli Paredes after issuing a one-out walk in the seventh.

"Impressive kid," Murphy said. "He competed, got stronger in the fourth, fifth, sixth. Constantly came back and got back in the count. This team we're playing against right now is playing with an energy that's pretty special. I respect what they've got going on over there."

Jackson Chourio shows off his wheels

The Brewers put together a nice two-out rally in the fourth when Frelick and Gary Sánchez each singled to bring up the No. 9 hitter, Chourio, who then rifled a shot down the first-base line.

Adell, the rightfielder, didn't play the carom off the wall down the line correctly and the ball bounded away from him, allowing Frelick and Sánchez to score easily and Chourio to slide head-first into the plate with a "Little League homer" that extended Milwaukee's lead to 5-0.

Chourio was credited with a double and two runs batted in, and Adell with an error. Chourio also recorded the fastest home-to-home sprint in the majors this season on the play at 14.7 seconds (29.6 feet per second).

"I think I ran with everything I had," Chourio said. "Truthfully, right off the bat I was thinking double and then after it got out there I thought, 'Well, let's see where I can get to.'"

In the sixth, Chourio made it three RBI with a sacrifice fly to right that made it 6-0.

A milestone for Christian Yelich

With two outs in the first inning Yelich hit career homer No. 200, a 107.2-mph shot 407 feet out to right field to give the Brewers a quick 1-0 lead.

It was the seventh of the season for Yelich and 141st of his tenure with Milwaukee.

"It was cool to finally get it," said Yelich. "You kind of know eventually it was going to happen and obviously it took me a little while to do it. Pretty cool. A lot cooler in a win. It looked like it was going to be one of those smooth-sailing nights. Not an easy win, but an uneventful win.

"It turned out to be everything but that."

Yelich was among the players feted in a raucous clubhouse after the game.

"Beer shower," he said. "That's something we do with a lot of the younger guys and some milestone moments. I'd actually never done it before; when I was a rookie that never happened. So, my first-ever once, which is kind of nice. Usually they throw a bunch of stuff on you, but I kind of had to set the parameters of just beer.

"But someone smoked me with an ice cream sandwich, though, which was kind of funny."

With the help of equipment manager Jason Shawger, visiting clubhouse manager Brett Crane and a heads-up crew of ushers in the right-field stands, Yelich was also able to leave the ballpark with his home-run ball in exchange for an autographed bat.

Brewers lineup

• Brice Turang 2B

• William Contreras DH

• Christian Yelich LF

• Willy Adames SS

• Rhys Hoskins 1B

• Joey Ortiz 3B

• Sal Frelick CF

• Gary Sánchez C

• Jackson Chourio RF

Angels lineup

• Nolan Schanuel 1B

• Luis Rengifo 3B

• Taylor Ward LF

• Willie Calhoun DH

• Logan O'Hoppe C

• Brandon Drury 2B

• Zach Neto SS

• Mickey Moniak CF

• Jo Adell RF

Brewers schedule

Brewers at Angels, 8:38 p.m. Wednesday: Milwaukee RHP Freddy Peralta (4-4, 4.38) vs. Los Angeles LHP Tyler Anderson (6-6, 2.58). Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers 6, Angels 3: Sal Frelick prevents homer for final out