Former Brewers players who had a big impact in the World Series

Former Milwaukee Brewers players Jean Segura and Martín Maldonado, playing on opposite sides of the 2022 World Series between Philadelphia and Houston, both had hits in Game 5 on Thursday night.

Segura's RBI single in the eighth inning pulled the Phillies within 3-2 and put the tying run on third with just one out, but the Astros were able to escape the jam. Segura, who had two hits in the game, also had a two-run go-ahead single in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the San Diego Padres despite otherwise struggling, though Maldonado's most notable moment of the postseason was being told he couldn't use an unsafe bat that he used in Game 1 of the World Series.

Maldonado did, however, homer in the 2019 World Series for Houston against Washington, among his three hits that year.

Former Brewers players have made an impact in the World Series before. Here's a look at those moments.

Will Smith

• With Brewers: 2014-16

• World Series: 2021 with Atlanta Braves

Smith hasn't appeared with the Astros in the World Series this year, although he was added to the roster as a replacement for Seth Martinez. He's one win away from his second World Series ring in as many seasons. Just last year, Smith locked down two saves in four scoreless appearances for Atlanta, which defeated his current team (Houston), 4-2. Smith allowed only two hits and one walk in his four innings, with one strikeout, with saves in Game 3 (a 2-0 win) and Game 4 (a 3-2 win) to set up the Braves for the championship. He navigated the difficult 1-2-3 ninth inning in the latter game by retiring Michael Brantley (a former Brewers minor-leaguer), Alex Bregman and Yordan Álvarez. Smith was money throughout the postseason, allowing no earned runs on five hits over 11 innings (11 appearances), including three scoreless innings against the Brewers in the NL Division Series.

Brett Phillips

• With Brewers: 2017-18

• World Series: 2020 with Tampa Bay Rays

The fun-loving and wildly popular outfielder lived out a dream with a game-winning hit in the World Series, a single that scored two runs with two outs in the ninth that gave the Rays an 8-7 shocker over Kenley Jansen and the Los Angeles Dodgers. It required some defensive shenanigans to make it happen, but it was still an uplifting moment that tied the series at 2-2. The Dodgers, however, won the next two games to claim the series, 4-2.

Zack Greinke

• With Brewers: 2011-12

• World Series: 2019 and 2021 with Houston Astros

Greinke, the prize the Brewers acquired before the 2011 season, had a short but memorable stay in Milwaukee. He's made it to the World Series in the late stages of his career, including a quality start in Game 7 of the 2019 World Series against Washington, when he started with six shutout innings and ultimately allowed two earned runs on just two hits in 6⅔ innings. But the second of those runs scored when reliever Will Harris allowed a home run, and Washington scored three more times against the Astros bullpen to claim the clincher, 6-2. Greinke also allowed an earned run on seven hits in 4⅔ innings in Game 3, a 4-1 Astros win, and worked four scoreless innings in Game 4 of the 2021 World Series in a 3-2 loss to Atlanta.

Alcides Escobar

• With Brewers: 2008-10

• World Series: 2014 and 2015 with Kansas City Royals

Escobar, a shortstop traded to Kansas City with multiple other players in the deal that brought Greinke to Milwaukee, hit the ball well in his two World Series appearances, both in a seven-game loss to the San Francisco Giants in 2014 (9 for 29, three doubles, two RBI) and in 2015 with a win over the New York Mets (6 for 26, double, triple, homer, four RBIs). But he really delivered in the 2015 American League Championship Series, when he was named the series MVP after going 11 for 23 with two doubles, a triple and five RBI as the Royals took down the Toronto Blue Jays in six games. Still, he might most be remembered for his inside-the-park home run on the first pitch the Royals saw in Game 1 of the 2015 World Series against the Mets, a series KC won, 4-1. He also scored the final run of Game 1, a sacrifice fly off the bat of Eric Hosmer to break a 4-4 tie and win it for the Royals in the 14th.

Lorenzo Cain

• With Brewers: 2010 (and later 2018-22)

• World Series: 2014 and 2015 with Kansas City Royals

Another aspect of the Greinke trade paid huge dividends for the Royals, when Cain became a centerpiece of their run in 2015 and finished third in the AL MVP voting. Granted, he went only 3 for 22 against the Mets but did drive in four runs and stole four bases. He also drove in four others and went 8 for 26 against the Giants in 2014, including a two-run single that helped bust Game 6 open en route to a 10-0 win for the Royals. Cain might most be remembered for his work in the ALCS.

He scored from first base on a single in the eighth inning of Game 6 against the Blue Jays in the 2015 ALCS, accounting for the winning run in a 4-3 win that sent the Royals to a second straight World Series. In 2014, he was the ALCS MVP, going 8 for 15 against the Baltimore Orioles to help engineer a four-game sweep. More importantly, he made a diving catch to rob another former Brewer, J.J. Hardy, in Game 2. Of course, he brought all of that back to the Brewers when Milwaukee signed him to a five-year deal in 2018.

Nelson Cruz

• With Brewers: 2005

• World Series: 2010 and 2011 with Texas Rangers

Cruz went 5 for 25 in the World Series but did hit two homers in a crushing 4-3 loss to St. Louis. His blast in Game 6 went for naught in a 10-9 win for the Cardinals in 11 innings, where Cruz misplayed a ball to right field that could have been the final out of the World Series but instead turned into a two-out triple by David Freese that tied the game at 7.

But Cruz was a big reason why the Rangers had gotten there, earning ALCS MVP against the Detroit Tigers when he went 8 for 22 with a postseason-series record six homers and 13 RBI. That included the first walk-off grand slam in postseason history, coming in the bottom of the 11th of Game 2, a game in which his home run off Max Scherzer in the seventh had allowed the game to get to extras. He then delivered a three-run blast in the 11th of Game 4 that helped put the game out of reach and homered off Justin Verlander early in Game 1 for what became the decisive tally in a 3-2 win. His eight homers in that postseason tied a record. In 2010, Cruz went 4 for 20 in the World Series, a loss to the Giants, with a homer and three RBI.

CC Sabathia

• With Brewers: 2008

• World Series: 2009 with New York Yankees

As thrilling as Sabathia's half-season in Milwaukee was, most everyone understood that he'd be in line for a massive free-agent contract elsewhere after the season. He signed for seven years and $161 million with the Yankees and returned immediate dividends when the Bronx Bombers won the 2009 World Series over Philadelphia, 4-2. Sabathia started twice in that series, and though he took the loss in Game 1, he worked 6⅔ solid innings in Game 4, an eventual Yankees victory. Before that, he was ALCS MVP, allowing just two earned runs on nine hits in 16 innings over his two starts, both victories in a six-game series win over the Los Angeles Angels. Sabathia appeared in six other postseasons for the Yankees but never got back to the World Series.

Scott Podsednik

• With Brewers: 2003-04

• World Series: 2005 with Chicago White Sox

The 2003 rookie of the year contender with the Brewers was part of a swap that sent Carlos Lee to Milwaukee, a deal that mostly worked out for both sides. Podsednik didn't become a star but was exactly what the White Sox needed, with an all-star season in 2005 and an unforgettable postseason home run as Chicago won the World Series. Podsednik went 6 for 21 in the World Series, including two triples and a homer, the latter of which came against Brad Lidge in the bottom of the ninth to break a 6-6 tie and send the fans home in a frenzy in Game 2. Podsednik also tripled in an insurance run in the eighth inning of Game 1, a 5-3 win.

Graeme Lloyd

With Brewers: 1993-96World Series: 1996 and 1998 with New York Yankees

Lloyd was traded by the Brewers to the Yankees in August 1996 in a deal that also sent Pat Listach to New York (though he was returned as an injured player) in exchange for Bob Wickman. The left-handed Australian then had a lockdown World Series against the Braves, appearing in four of the six games and allowing no hits or walks in 2⅔ innings, with four strikeouts. He induced a huge double play in the bottom of the ninth in Game 4 to keep the game tied, a game the Yankees then won in 10 innings, 8-6, making Lloyd the winning pitcher. He also registered holds in a 5-2 win in Game 3 and the clincher in Game 6, when he retired Ryan Klesko to strand two runners in the sixth with the Yankees leading, 3-1. In eight postseason innings (including one out in the 1998 World Series to help New York beat San Diego, 5-4, as part of a series sweep), Lloyd allowed only two hits, with no runs and six strikeouts.

Greg Vaughn

• With Brewers: 1989-96

• World Series: 1998 with San Diego Padres

The Padres were swept by the Yankees in 1998, but it wasn't Vaughn's fault, at least not in Game 1, when he belted two homers in a 9-6 loss and finished with three runs scored. The Yankees plated seven runs in the seventh to take control of the game, including a grand slam by Tino Martinez and a three-run homer by Chuck Knoblauch. Vaughn, traded to the Padres in a relatively frowned-upon deadline deal during the 1996 season, went 0-for-11 in the other three games. He also homered among his three hits in Game 1 of the NLDS against Houston, a blast in the eighth against Randy Johnson that provided the winning tally in a 2-1 victory in a series the Padres won in four.

Gary Sheffield

• With Brewers: 1988-91

• World Series: 1997 with Florida Marlins

Brewers fans don't often like to ponder the tumultuous tenure of Sheffield, who clashed with Brewers personnel in Milwaukee and was traded to San Diego, where he began a superb career that featured nine all-star appearances and six placements in the top 10 of the MVP voting. But he appeared in only one World Series, an unforgettable seven-game win for the Florida Marlins over Cleveland. Sheffield had a massive Game 3 for the Marlins in a wild and pivotal 14-11 win. Sheffield belted a first-inning home run against Charles Nagy and drove in five runs in the contest, including two runs with a single with two outs in the ninth to make it 12-7. The Marlins would add two more for a seven-run inning that turned a 7-7 game on its head, and then Cleveland scored four times in its half of the ninth. Sheffield also tied the game with a double in the seventh and walked with the bases loaded in the third. He finished 7 for 24 in the series and homered in all three stages of the 1997 postseason.

Paul Molitor

• With Brewers: 1978-92

• World Series: 1993 with Toronto Blue Jays

It's a bit of a sore subject that one of the Brewers' greatest players and eventual Hall of Famer was offered such minimal compensation to stay for the 1993 season, and Molitor wound north of the border in his age 36 season, where he proved he still had plenty to offer. Not only did the Blue Jays win a second straight World Series title with Joe Carter's series-clinching homer in Game 6 against the Philadelphia Phillies, Molitor was named World Series MVP, with 11 hits in 24 at-bats, including a double, two triples and two homers. He did a lot of his damage in that clincher, with three hits (a triple, homer and single ahead of Carter in the ninth) in what became a thrilling 8-6 win. Molitor was pretty good in the ALCS, too, going 9 for 23 with two doubles, a triple and homer over six games against the White Sox.

Billy Bates

With Brewers: 1989-90World Series: 1990 with Cincinnati Reds

You'd be forgiven for asking "who?" Bates was drafted by the Brewers in 1985 and played in only 21 games with Milwaukee, including 14 in 1990 before he was traded with Glenn Braggs to the Reds in exchange for Ron Robinson and Bob Sebra. Bates had just one at-bat in the 1990 World Series, pinch hitting with one out in the 10th inning of Game 2. His high chopper turned into a single when Carney Lansford couldn't corral it at third base, and two batters later, Bates came around to score on Joe Oliver's walk-off winner to give the Reds a 5-4 win en route to a four-game sweep. It was Braggs, by he way, who tied the game with an RBI groundout in the eighth inning of Game 2, and he tied Game 4 in the eighth with another groundout. The Reds won that contest, 2-1, meaning Braggs had one of the more productive 0-for-4 showings in World Series history.

Jim Sundberg

• With Brewers: 1984

• World Series: 1985 with Kansas City Royals

An all-star with Milwaukee in 1984, the catcher was sent to the Royals as part of a four-team trade before the 1985 season, one that brought Danny Darwin and Tim Leary to Milwaukee. The 1985 World Series will be remembered for a missed call by umpire Don Dekinger when Jorge Orta was ruled safe leading off the ninth inning of Game 6, where St. Louis had a 1-0 lead needing three outs for a title, but Sundberg had a role in that inning, as well. Though he bunted into a force-out at third base two batters later, Sundberg scored from second on a lazy single to the outfield by Dane Iorg, sliding past the tag with the winning run for a 2-1 Royals walk-off win (and KC would go on to win the seventh game, too). Sundberg went 6 for 24 in the series with two doubles, with exactly one hit in six of the seven World Series games. In Game 7 of the ALCS, he narrowly missed a grand slam and settled for a bases-clearing triple against the Blue Jays to give the Royals a 5-1 lead, and he finished that game with four RBI.

Darrell Porter

• With Brewers: 1971-76

• World Series: 1980 with Kansas City Royals, 1982 and 1985 with St. Louis Cardinals

This one obviously stings, given that the ex-Brewer came back to haunt his old team as World Series MVP in 1982. Porter went 8 for 28 in that series with a homer and five RBI, and he was also NLCS MVP that year when the Cardinals swept the Braves. In that series, Porter had five hits in nine at-bats, but three were doubles and he also walked five times. He also threw out Paul Molitor trying to steal in the ninth inning of Game 2 after Molitor had led off with a bunt single and the Brewers trailing, 5-4. Porter went 2 for 14 with the Royals in the 1980 series loss to Philadelphia and 2 for 15 with the Cardinals in 1985 when they fell to the Royals in seven games.

JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: These ex-Brewers had big roles in World Series of past years