Morgan’s ground single through the middle delivered Carlos Gomez from second base in the 10th inning Friday, enabling Milwaukee to overcome closer John Axford’s first blown save in six months and eliminate Arizona, 3-2, in Game 5 of the teams’ National League division series.
After Morgan ran around the field, traded his batting helmet for one that read T Plush (after Tony Plush, one of his three alter egos) and accepted Champagne and beer baths from teammates, he walked to an unoccupied place in the clubhouse, sat cross-legged on the floor and began to cry.
“My grandfather, man — I wish he was here to see this,” Morgan said. “He was the only one who played in my family. And I lost him in May.” Morgan held a can of beer in his left hand and slowly dumped a little on the blue carpeting, until white foam bubbled.
“I’ll pour one out for him,” he said. “Here ya go, bud. Pretty cool. Pretty cool. Pretty solid. Pretty solid.”
Morgan’s hit set off a thunderous celebration from the sellout crowd of 44,028 at Miller Park and a shower of blue and gold confetti and fireworks. It also rendered the excitable Morgan so out of control he yelled an off-color phrase to the crowd that the TBS microphones picked up live.
The rally completed a game that had been tense throughout, as Milwaukee — which led the majors with 57 home victories — avoided becoming the first N.L. team to lose a division series after taking a two-games-to-none lead. Instead, the Brewers will face St. Louis in the N.L. Championship Series beginning Sunday. The Brewers had not won a playoff series since 1982, when the franchise was in the American League.
“That was incredible, the intensity,” said Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun, who had two hits and batted .500 in the series (9 for 18). “You could feel the crowd. Everybody was nervous. Everybody was excited. I think everybody in the stands was waiting for a moment to go crazy like they did, and it was pretty cool.”
Or, as the Milwaukee owner Mark Attanasio put it, “It was the most exquisite torture you could have, I guess.”
The Brewers cobbled together the winning run against J. J. Putz in the 10th after a one-out single by Gomez, a defensive replacement in center field.
With Morgan squaring to bunt, Gomez took off for second. Catcher Henry Blanco, who entered the game two innings before after starter Miguel Montero left for a pinch-runner, jumped from his crouch to throw but missed the pitch, allowing Gomez to steal easily.
“When I got to second base, I said, if he hits it on the ground, I’m going to try to score,” Gomez said. “Nobody’s going to stop me.
“I know Nyj. In those kind of moments, he’d be so big. I’ve had that feeling before, and I know he’s going to drive me in.”
The Milwaukee ace Yovani Gallardo held the Diamondbacks to one run in six innings in his rematch with the 21-game winner Ian Kennedy, whom he outpitched to win Game 1. Neither figured in the decision, leaving Gallardo undefeated against Arizona this season (6-0, 1.23 earned run average). Gallardo allowed only a homer by Justin Upton in the third, the Diamondbacks’ 10th homer of the series.
Gallardo would have been the winning pitcher if Axford, who had converted 44 consecutive save chances since April 18, had held the lead in the ninth.
Axford found instant trouble when Gerardo Parra led off with a double and Sean Burroughs blooped a single into short left, putting runners at the corners. Willie Bloomquist dropped a squeeze bunt single toward first base to score Parra, as Axford accidentally tripped the charging first baseman Prince Fielder, who had hoped to throw home.
“We talked about it a little bit,” Axford said. “That ball was just perfect. I didn’t know if I was going to get to it. If I did, I wasn’t going to have much of a shuttle throwing it home. I don’t know if got into Prince’s way, whether he was going to have a shot.
“It worked out the way it did, and everyone pulled through.”
Especially Morgan, who had been 1 for 11. Manager Ron Roenicke stuck with him, and Morgan rewarded that faith by doubling in the fourth and scoring a run to tie the game, 1-1. Yuniesky Betancourt put the Brewers in front with a sixth-inning single after center fielder Chris Young raced back to rob Jerry Hairston Jr. of an extra-base hit.
Morgan likes to call himself an entertainer. He alternately refers to himself as Tony Plush, Tony Gumbel or Tony Tombstone. His interviews as the bubbly Plush, a persona he crafted with two friends back home in San Jose, Calif., endeared him to Brewers fans, though some of his quirks have tested Roenicke’s patience.
“People have lost sight of how great he’s been for us on the field,” Braun said. “He’s obviously entertaining off it. He comes to the ballpark with a different personality every day. He’s a character, but he’s been so successful on the field. Tonight was as big as it gets.”
Braun revealed a fourth Morgan persona, one that may stick.
“The other day I started calling him Tony Clutch,” he said. “It was Tony Clutch that came through.”