Rowdy Tellez HR, throw spark Brewers over Braves 2-1 in Game 1

MILWAUKEE — Rowdy Tellez fouled disconnected Charlie Morton’s transportation successful a scoreless game, past headed toward the dugout for a heavy enactment and a caller bat.

Just the interruption the Milwaukee Brewers needed.

Tellez spoiled Morton’s gem by hitting a two-run homer successful the seventh inning, starring the Brewers implicit the Atlanta Braves 2-1 Friday successful the opener of their NL Division Series.

“I’m inactive retired of breath,” Tellez said. “It was a brainsick moment.”

Corbin Burnes, Adrian Houser and Josh Hader combined connected a four-hitter that gave Milwaukee the aboriginal pb successful this best-of-five series. Game 2 is Saturday successful Milwaukee.

Former Brewer Orlando Arcia grounded to 2nd with runners connected the corners to extremity the game. That came aft Milwaukee catcher Omar Narváez — who combined with archetypal baseman Tellez connected a cardinal first-inning treble play — blocked Hader’s 1-2 transportation successful the ungraded to support Freddie Freeman astatine 3rd base.

Neither squad produced overmuch discourtesy until the Brewers yet broke done successful the seventh.

After Morton (0-1) plunked Avisaíl García with a 1-2 transportation to commencement the inning, Tellez ripped different 1-2 offering from Morton implicit the center-field partition to interruption a scoreless tie.

“Even successful those at-bats, I got them wherever I wanted to be,” Morton said. “I conscionable didn’t decorativeness them off. I deed Avi, and past I grooved 1 to Rowdy.”

Tellez was 1 for 13 against the Braves this play until delivering that 411-foot drive, which came instantly aft the hefty, bearded slugger fouled a transportation off.

“I don’t cognize if I broke that bat,” Tellez said. “I conscionable saw thing alert disconnected of it. I was like, ‘I request each the assistance I tin get close now.’

“I walked back, and the bat lad didn’t adjacent realize. I benignant of conscionable collected my enactment and calmed myself, got backmost to the box, and I said, ‘(Keep) my ft down and conscionable spot the transportation and deed the shot hard.’ That’s each I wanted to do.”

The large deed capped rather a comeback for Tellez, who was activated from the injured database Saturday aft missing astir 3 weeks with a close patella strain.

“It was a choky timetable,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We knew it was going to beryllium tight. We were fortunate that helium got himself healthy. The grooming unit did a heck of a job.”

Atlanta’s Joc Pederson lofted a pinch-hit homer disconnected Houser (1-0) with 2 outs successful the eighth.

Morton’s 85th and last transportation to Tellez was among the fewer mistakes helium made each day. He struck retired nine, walked 1 and deed a batter to proceed his caller past of exceptional postseason performances.

Burnes was each spot arsenic bully successful his archetypal vocation postseason start.

The NL Cy Young Award contender opened the crippled with 2 consecutive walks and threw 40 pitches successful the archetypal 2 innings but settled down from there. The right-hander struck retired six and gave up 2 hits and 3 walks successful six shutout innings, throwing 91 pitches.

“They’re an assertive offense,” Burnes said. “That was benignant of the cardinal contiguous was to effort to play disconnected of that. We were conscionable trying to bash excessively overmuch aboriginal on.”

After the Braves enactment runners connected the corners with cipher retired but failed to people successful the apical of the first, cipher got a runner past archetypal basal until Tellez homered.

Neither squad had a deed until Milwaukee’s Lorenzo Cain had a one-out azygous to close successful the third. The Braves’ archetypal deed came erstwhile Eddie Rosario led disconnected the 5th with a bloop azygous to center.

Atlanta’s champion scoring accidental came astatine the commencement of the game.

Burnes walked the archetypal 2 batters helium faced — Jorge Soler and Freeman — with Soler advancing to 3rd connected a passed ball.

Ozzie Albies followed with a crisp grounder down the first-base enactment that Tellez caught conscionable earlier stepping connected the bag. When helium noticed Soler was trying to people from third, Tellez threw to the plate.

Narváez caught the one-hop propulsion and tagged Soler to implicit the treble play. Counsell called it the play of the game.

“I made a unspeakable throw,” Tellez said. “I’ve got a bully catcher backmost there. He’s an All-Star for a reason. Made a large tag. That full play doesn’t hap without him.”

Freeman precocious to 3rd connected a chaotic pitch, but Burnes struck retired Austin Riley to extremity the threat.

“You emotion to get a pitcher similar that aboriginal earlier helium gets settled in,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Because they get retired of an inning similar that and things hap similar (they) did.”

Milwaukee is playing this bid without setup antheral Devin Williams and left-handed reliever Brent Suter. Williams fractured his throwing manus erstwhile helium punched a partition the nighttime the Brewers clinched the NL Central, and Suter has a strained close oblique.

Without those 2 successful the bullpen, the Brewers had Houser enactment 2 innings to acceptable things up for Hader. Houser spent the regular play successful Milwaukee’s rotation.

UP NEXT

Left-hander Max Fried (14-7, 3.04) starts for the Braves and All-Star right-hander Brandon Woodruff (9-10, 2.56) pitches for the Brewers connected Saturday. Fried has gone 7-0 with a 1.46 ERA implicit his past 11 starts.