Brewers vs. Rockies NLDS Game 3 live scores and highlights

Milwaukee leads best-of-5 series 2-0.

The Colorado Rockies are a game away from elimination in the National League Division Series, but they are also back home and have their two best pitchers scheduled to start, beginning with German Marquez in Sunday’s Game 3 against the Milwaukee Brewers at Coors Field.

If the Rockies win on Sunday they force a Game 4 on Monday, with Denver native and staff ace Kyle Freeland six days after his brilliant start on short rest in the NL Wild Card Game in Chicago. Freeland owns a 2.40 ERA at Coors Field this season, a Rockies record at home.

Rockies vs. Brewers TV & streaming info

• Teams: Brewers (96-67) vs. Rockies (91-72)
• Series: Milwaukee leads, 2-0
• Location: Coors Field, Denver
• Time: 4:37 p.m. ET
• TV: MLB Network
• Online: MLB Network

Brewers vs. Rockies NLDS Live Results

Hello, it’s Marc Normandin, here for your live blogging needs. Want to read said live blog from the beginning? Scroll down to the “1st inning” marker and work your way back up!

6th inning: As said earlier, Marquez’s night is over, so the Brewers are into the Rockies’ bullpen. It’s Scott Oberg, and his first assignment is Jesus Aguilar. Aguilar is handled, but Moustakas gets a single, and you can tell how many Brewers fans are in attendance by the volume of the “MOOOOOOOSE” call that followed.

Kratz is 3-for-3 tonight and with five hits in the series — he just launched a double to deep right field, and now Moustakas is at third. There is just one out in the inning, and here comes... Orlando Arcia? Well, the bottom of the lineup had to come around eventually. Arcia makes an out, but the Brewers had one to spare, and now they’re up to the pitcher’s spot: Curtis Granderson will pinch-hit for Knebel, giving Milwaukee a chance to effectively blow this one open.

Hey, three or four runs would be basically insurmountable for the Rockies team we’ve seen this series.

Well, that’s embarrassing. Knebel got set on the mound and then dropped the ball, which is a balk, so now Curtis Granderson doesn’t even have to do anything at the plate: he already drove in a runner, sort of.

And that’s followed by a wild pitch, which scores Kratz to make it 4-0, Brewers. Curtis Granderson strikes out, but not before doing his job. Sort of.

Here’s Joakim Soria for the Brewers, who starts his outing out with four consecutive balls and a walk to LeMahieu. He gets a strike on his first pitch to Arenado, so don’t worry, Brewers fans, Soria didn’t forget how.

Arenado goes down swinging at a pitch he was embarrassingly fooled by, so here’s Story. The Rockies could use one of his very big homers right about now. And maybe another one next time he’s up, too.

5th inning: Wade Miley starts things off with an out — Costas is shocked Miley is even still in the game, because he hasn’t been paying attention — and then Cain finally picks up his first hit of the NLDS. He’s standing at first, and here’s Yelich. Cain’s time on base is short, as Yelich grounds into a fielder’s choice, and the Rockies get the lead runner.

Yelich steals second on an 0-2 count, giving the Brewers a runner in scoring position, but Braun is going to have to work to do something with that.

Or, Trevor Story could throw off-target to first base on a grounder, and then Desmond could fail to tag Braun at first, making everyone safe. Desmond’s jump did save the play from getting worse, but he didn’t get the tag or land on first, and now Shaw is up with men on the corners and two down.

And the Brewers’ good luck is immediately leveled out with bad luck: Shaw would have just had an RBI single, but the grounder hit Braun’s foot on the basepath for the third out of the inning. No run for Milwaukee, though, Shaw does get a single. I’m sure he’s thrilled about that.

Remember when I was talking about how bad Ian Desmond is at hitting? He just struck out against Wade Miley. Ian Desmond is what happens when you put all of your ability points into charisma and attractiveness and forget to add anything to offense.

Tony Wolters singles, and that signals the end of German Marquez’s day: Garrett Hampson is pinch-hitting for him to try to make something of this opportunity. Hampson hits a grounder — have you heard that one before? — and Wolters is cut down at second. Wolters avoids the double play, and this also marks the end of Miley’s evening. He picks up just two strikeouts, but limits the Rockies to three hits and four total baserunners while picking up seven groundouts. Here comes Corey Knebel to pitch to Charlie Blackmon.

I don’t think the Brewers’ pen is going to blow it or anything, but I don’t really agree with pulling Miley here. He was rolling, the Rockies’ offense has been bad all season, not just this past week. The conditions are favorable to Miley’s style with the weather... just let the pen rest a little more.

Of course, if they secure this victory tonight, they’ll have plenty of time to rest before the NLCS, but I’d still just leave Miley in a little longer. Knebel strikes out Blackmon, and we’re on to the sixth. 2-0, Brewers.

4th inning: It sure won’t be German Marquez’s fault if the Rockies lose this game and the series, assuming he keeps doing what he’s been doing. He breaks Shaw’s bat on a groundout, Marquez’s sixth of the game, to open the fourth.

I’d love to tell you about the solo homer Jesus Aguilar just hit, but it happened during a pre-taped interview with the manager that we apparently also needed a visual for instead of just audio. Between this and Bob Costas you’re on thin ice, MLB Network (and I am rooting for you to fall through it). 2-0, Brewers.

Eric Kratz has yet another hit, and I’m not going to look it up but I’m pretty sure he has more than the Rockies do this series. Marquez gets out of the inning all the same, though, and he’s at 55 pitches through four. Sure, he gave up a homer, but I’m still not blaming him for anything that’s happening here.

Trevor Story puts a ride into one, but the cold is working its dark magic, and the ball ended up in Braun’s glove. And now here’s Holliday with a flyout on the first pitch he sees in the at-bat: Miley has thrown just 48 pitches, and is nearly through the fourth inning.

And now he is through the fourth inning, following another ground out. Miley has struck out just one batter, but he’s also allowed only two hits, and he’s kept the ball on the ground. 2-0, Brewers.

3rd inning: The Brewers are back to the top of the order, which hasn’t been a problem as far as Lorenzo Cain is concerned: he flies out here, leaving him hitless for the series, still. Yelich is back up again, however, so Marquez can only celebrate for so long.

This time, Marquez gets Yelich on another comebacker. And then he gets Ryan Braun with a real good breaking ball to end a 1-2-3 inning. Runs are looking like they’ll be scarce today!

Marquez nearly picks up an infield hit to open the bottom of the third, but Moustakas gets the throw over to first just in time — now Blackmon comes up for the second time. He gets shifted, though, and Travis Shaw catches the ball in shallow right field without having to move much from his spot.

DJ LeMahieu makes his presence felt with a double. There are two outs, but Nolan Arenado is up, and he’s certainly due this series. Granted, everyone on the Rockies is due this series, that’s why they’re down 0-2, but still. Due!

Instead, Arenado hits a harmless grounder to short, and the Rockies strand LeMahieu. The Brewers are still up 1-0 after three.

2nd inning: Eric Kratz, Game 2 hero for the Brewers, reaches on a single up the middle, under Marquez’s legs. Orlando Arcia moves him over to second with a ground out, so the Brewers have another runner in scoring position. At least this time there are two outs, and Wade Miley is the one at the plate.

Miley sits down on a called strike three. Marquez is already at 29 pitches, but he’s through the second unscathed. 1-0, Brewers.

Got him:

It’s Trevor Story, Matt Holliday, and Carlos González up against Miley in the bottom of the second inning. Story leads off the frame with a hard-hit single to left field.

Maybe one of the most hilarious, understated stories of 2018 is that Wade Miley was a disaster for the Orioles in 2017 — he had a 5.61 ERA and made 32 starts, anyway — was granted free agency after the season, and ended up on the Brewers where he pitched very well and is now starting a postseason game. The O’s, by the way, somehow got worse without Miley: they’re one of three teams since the expansion era began to win fewer than 50 games in a season.

The Rockies are at least making Miley work a little harder in the second: he’s at 17 pitches, with Story on first and Holliday now struck out. González walks, bringing up Ian Desmond, which is not something anyone rooting for or on the Rockies is excited about in an important situation.

Desmond was a little better in 2018 than in 2017, his first with the Rockies, but he was still a below-average hitter overall, and the reason the Rockies had the worst production of any team at first base this season. By the time I finished typing out why you shouldn’t expect much from him, he harmlessly flew out to left for the second out of the inning.

Now it’s up to Wild Card Game hero Tony Wolters to keep the Rockies from salvaging something from this inning. The crowd is chanting “TO-NY,” but the encouragement wasn’t enough: he grounds out, the third Miley has induced, and the score stays 1-0, Brewers.

1st inning: I stopped playing Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey to live blog this game, so we better get something great out of the Brewers, Rockies, or both.

Was German Marquez being careful with Christian Yelich, or unintentionally intentionally walking him? Either way, the Brewers have their first baserunner, and now Ryan Braun is up. By the way, it’s 46 degrees out in Denver, so while offense tends to be the predominant Coors Field theme, the conditions might lessen that effect tonight.

Maybe, anyway, I’m not putting anything past Coors.

Braun singles, advancing Yelich to third, followed by a Travis Shaw fielders choice that scores a run. The down-two-games-to-none Rockies are already down 1-0 in a win-or-go-home situation.

Marquez gets Jesus Aguilar out on a comebacker, ending the threat in the first inning. The Rockies are going to have to hope they have an answer to this deep Milwaukee lineup. 1-0, Brewers.

Good news, Rockies fans! The Brewers are, uh, not undefeated when they score first. Let’s roll with that.

You know, for the sake of your optimism.

Let’s not give the Brewers the W already or anything, though. The Rockies might have some lineup issues, but Wade Miley isn’t a dominant force: in fact, he’s a pitch-to-contact pitcher in a park where contact can doom a starter.

Well, Miley just threw eight pitches and got three outs, two of them on grounders.

[remembers it’s 46 degrees out and contact will likely have less oomph than usual because of it]

Ah, well, nevertheless.