It was a night to remember for Joey Ortiz.
The young infielder, acquired in the Corbin Burnes trade, slugged his first career home run and recorded his first walk-off hit to lead the Milwaukee Brewers past the New York Yankees, 7-6, in 11 innings at American Family Field on Friday.
Ortiz's two-run homer in the second got the Brewers onto the board, then he ripped a single to left to win the game as Milwaukee improved to 2-0 in extra-inning games this season.
BOX SCORE: Brewers 7, Yankees 6 (11 innings)
Ortiz had his jersey ripped off in the celebration, and had to borrow Willy Adames's jersey to conduct his on-field, post-game interview in the aftermath.
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Joey Ortiz delivers in the clutch
After Jared Koenig (2-0) pitched a strong 11th, getting the second out at home on a comebacker, the Brewers had their opportunity and didn't waste it.
With pinch-runner Owen Miller at second, Brice Turang twice failed to lay down a sacrifice bunt. But he eventually capped an eight-pitch battle with Michael Tonkin by sending a fly ball to right field that allowed Miller to tag and advance into scoring position.
Three pitches later, Ortiz ripped a sharp ground ball past ex-Brewer Jahmai Jones at third and the celebration was on.
Brewers go into extras for the second time
Both teams' bullpens fared well after the initial slugfest until Koenig took over for Bryan Hudson going to the 10th.
Giancarlo Stanton greeted him with a double to the gap in left-center, and the "ghost runner" quickly came in to score. Koenig averted further damage, then the Brewers pulled even as William Contreras advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on an Adames single to center.
Adames ended up stranded at third, however.
Brewers tie it back up at 5-5
Gary Sánchez ripped a leadoff double to left, advanced to third on a groundout by Turang and tagged and rumbled home on a sacrifice fly to center by Ortiz.
Five homers and counting in the game
Starter Colin Rea was one out away from his first 1-2-3 inning in the fourth when he surrendered a single and walk.
That brought up ex-Brewer Trent Grisham, who crushed a three-run homer to right two pitches after barely missing one down the right-field line. Making matters worse: Grisham bats ninth in the lineup and it was his first hit of the season.
New York goes back up, 5-4.
Blake Perkins gives the Brewers their first lead
Rhys Hoskins singled with two outs in the third and that proved big, as Blake Perkins followed by belting a two-run homer to right-center to put Milwaukee ahead by a score of 4-2.
Perkins, a one-time Yankees farmhand, went up in the zone and turned on a 95.7-mph fastball from Luis Gil.
Ortiz goes deep for the first time
Alex Verdugo homered with one out in the second inning, the second round-tripper in as many innings for the Yankees.
But the Brewers answered back against Gil. After Turang slapped a single to left, Ortiz hammered a 1-2 slider on the inner edge and sent it into the bleachers in left to knot the score at 2-2.
Juan Soto puts Yankees in front
Juan Soto is off to a torrid start with the Yankees, and he continued it by going opposite field and into the Brewers bullpen with a solo homer off Rea two batters into the game.
Otherwise, Rea struck out a pair -- including birthday boy Aaron Judge -- and got a nice defensive play by Brice Turang to limit the damage to Soto's blast.
Brewers time, TV, radio
The Brewers game starts at 7:10 p.m. Friday.
TV: Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio: FM-94.5 and a state network.
Brewers lineup
- Sal Frelick LF
- William Contreras C
- Willy Adames SS
- Rhys Hoskins 1B
- Blake Perkins CF
- Gary Sánchez DH
- Brice Turang 2B
- Joey Ortiz 3B
- Jackson Chourio RF
Yankees lineup
- Anthony Volpe SS
- Juan Soto RF
- Aaron Judge DH
- Anthony Rizzo 1B
- Gleyber Torres 2B
- Alex Verdugo LF
- Oswaldo Cabrera 3B
- Austin Wells C
- Trent Grisham CF
Brewers schedule
Brewers vs. Yankees, 6:10 p.m. Saturday. Milwaukee RHP Joe Ross (1-2, 4.05) vs. New York LHP Carlos Rodón (1-1, 2.70). Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.
Brewers vs. Yankees, 1:10 p.m. Sunday. Milwaukee RHP Tobias Myers (0-1, 1.80) vs. New York RHP Marcus Stroman (2-1, 2.93). Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.
How to watch:What channel are Brewers vs Yankees on? Time, TV, streaming, radio
