PHOENIX – A pair of rookies made sure the Milwaukee Brewers never stood much of a chance.
Now the comeback-king Arizona Diamondbacks have one.
Paul Goldschmidt hit a grand slam off Shaun Marcum following an intentional walk and fellow rookie Josh Collmenter dominated Milwaukee again, helping the Diamondbacks beat the Brewers, 8-1, on Tuesday to prevent a three-game sweep in the National League Division Series.
Seemingly in command after winning the first two games at home, the Brewers were outhit and outpitched in Game 3, giving life to a team that had a major league-best 48 comeback wins during the regular season.
Game 4 is tonight in Phoenix, with Milwaukee’s Randy Wolf facing fellow lefty Joe Saunders.
Marcum’s late-season struggles followed him into the playoffs.
The right-hander who had been so good on the road – 8-3 with a 2.21 ERA in 16 games – allowed eight runs and six hits over 42/3 innings. This after ending the season 1-2 with a 6.84 ERA over his final four starts.
Milwaukee’s power pair of Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun didn’t help him much, finishing 1-for-6 after going a combined 9-for-16 with two homers, six RBI and six runs in the first two games. Fielder had the only hit between them with an infield single in the ninth, the third hit by the Brewers overall.
Collmenter, a right-hander, had two good outings against Milwaukee during the regular season and kept it going in the playoffs, holding the Brewers to Corey Hart’s leadoff homer in the third inning and one other hit over seven. He retired 15 of the final 16 hitters he faced and set an Arizona rookie postseason record with six strikeouts.
Miguel Montero, who finished with three RBI, hit a run-scoring double in the first inning and Goldschmidt followed with an RBI single. Montero did it again in the third against Marcum, lining a run-scoring single to put Arizona up 3-1.
Strolling up to chants of “Goldschmidt! Goldschmidt!” in the fifth after Marcum intentionally walked Montero to load the bases, the rookie who was still in Double-A at midseason lifted a shot to right-center that cleared the wall by inches for the first grand slam in Arizona postseason history.
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