Mike Moustakas Walk-Off Hit Hands Brewers Dramatic Game 1 Win vs. Rockies

The Milwaukee Brewers avoided a late disaster to escape Game 1 of the National League Division Series with a 3-2 win in 10 innings over the Colorado Rockies. 

Christian Yelich started the scoring with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning. He also worked a walk in the bottom of the 10th after falling behind 0-2 against Adam Ottavino, took second on a wild pitch and scored the winning run on Mike Moustakas' walk-off RBI single. 

Milwaukee closer Jeremy Jeffress, who was dealing with neck spasms last week and wasn't available during the NL Central tiebreaker against the Chicago Cubs on Monday, looked rusty in his first appearance since Sept. 29. 

The Rockies tied the game with two runs on three hits against Jeffress in the ninth. They seemed set for a bigger inning when Charlie Blackmon was initially awarded a ground-rule double that scored one run and put runners on second and third with no outs. 

Replay showed the ball hit just to the right side of the chalk, resulting in a foul ball:

Blackmon eventually hit an RBI single to get Colorado on the board, which was followed two batters later by Nolan Arenado's sacrifice fly to even the score. 

Opting to go with a bullpen day to start the postseason, six Brewers pitchers combined to hold the Rockies to four hits with 12 strikeouts in the win.

On the losing side, Colorado's pitching did everything possible to keep the game close. Starter Antonio Senzatela's homer to Yelich was his only real blemish. The 23-year-old allowed three hits and two walks over five innings. 

Christian Yelich's Red-Hot Hitting Will Carry Brewers Offense

Yelich has been playing at a high level all season, but he's been particularly locked in down the stretch. 

Since Sept. 3—the day Milwaukee began play five games behind the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central—Yelich has gone 32-for-84 with 10 home runs, 31 RBI, 23 walks and 16 strikeouts in 26 games. 

Going back a little further, Yelich has been directly responsible for nearly one-third of all the runs Milwaukee has scored since the start of September:

The Brewers have quality depth in their lineup—four players hit at least 20 homers during the regular season, and Yelich and Jesus Aguilar drove in over 100 runs—so they are capable of scoring runs with anyone in the NL. 

Yelich, though, is what makes the entire group work because of his ability to hit for average, power and get on base to put pressure on opposing hitters. He will carry the Brewers lineup as far as it will go in the postseason. 

Deep Bullpen Makes Brewers NL's Most Dangerous Team 

One day after the Oakland Athletics' bullpen experiment crashed and burned against the New York Yankees, Milwaukee showed the virtues of using a host of relievers in lieu of a traditional starter. 

Brandon Woodruff, who made four starts in 19 appearances during the regular season, showed no nerves at the start of the game. The right-hander had three strikeouts over three scoreless innings. 

Corey Knebel and Josh Hader did their part with four strikeouts over three hitless innings before giving way to Jeffress. Joakim Soria, who had a 3.12 ERA and 75 strikeouts over 60.2 innings during the regular season, didn't even pitch until the 10th inning. 

"Everybody is rested. That's the first thing," Brewers manager Craig Counsell told reporters Wednesday of his decision to go with the bullpen in Game 1. "And I think for our team, we have—largely, we're trying to get away from what the word 'starter' and 'reliever' means. That's how we're going to get through the postseason, I think."

Jeffress had gone 11 straight appearances without giving up a run, so his struggles Thursday aren't a major concern yet.

This Brewers pitching staff is built in a similar fashion to the 2015 Kansas City Royals squad that won the World Series. Luke Hochevar, Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis logged 44 strikeouts and gave up one run over 35 innings. 

Brewers relievers led the NL with 10.38 strikeouts per nine innings and ranked second with 7.1 FanGraphs wins above replacement and a 3.47 ERA. 

If they can just get adequate four-inning starts from Chacin and Chase Anderson, the bullpen is more than capable of handling things the rest of the way to keep the opposition at bay. 

This has been the year of the reliever in MLB, so it's fitting a Brewers team led by its bullpen would be the most dangerous in the National League. 

Rockies Need Fast Fix for Offensive Issues 

As impressive as Milwaukee's pitching was Thursday, the Rockies have a significant problem they need to correct if they want to make a deep October run. 

Here are the Rockies' offensive numbers away from Coors Field during the regular season in 2018:

Over the last 11 road games, the Rockies have scored 26 runs and been shut out twice during that span. They've racked up four runs over 23 innings dating back to their 2-1 win against the Cubs on Tuesday. 

Even though the Rockies are often known for boasting a loaded lineup, they only had three regulars with an above-average OPS+ (Blackmon, Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story). Their slugging percentage is 133 points lower on the road (.370) than at Coors (.503).

Colorado only had five at-bats with a runner in scoring position Thursday. The pitching has more than held up its end of the bargain lately, giving up three runs in the past two games. 

Unless the Rockies can muster some offense when Blackmon, Arenado and Story aren't in the batter's box, they will be looking at another early playoff exit. 

What's Next?

The Brewers will host the Rockies in Game 2 on Friday at 4:15 p.m. ET. Colorado will try to even the series behind Tyler Anderson (7-9, 4.55 ERA). Milwaukee will send Jhoulys Chacin (15-8, 3.50 ERA) to the mound on three days' rest after he logged 5.2 innings against the Cubs.