Welcome party is big-time blast
Newcomer Sogard leads homer barrage
Eric Sogard’s return to the major leagues on Friday night was a memorable one.
The bespectacled utility man, fresh off his callup from Class AAA Colorado Springs earlier in the day, homered and reached base three times to help lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 7-4 victory over the New York Mets at Miller Park.
Hernán Pérez, Orlando Arcia and Jett Bandy also went deep for the Brewers, who homered a season-high four times and wrested the major-league lead back from the Washington Nationals with 59.
It was Sogard’s shot to right that turned the tide in this one.
With the score tied, 2-2, in the sixth, Keon Broxton singled off Matt Harvey’s heel to bring Sogard to the plate. He’d drawn walks from Harvey each of his first two times up, and after getting ahead in the count, 2-0, launched a two-run homer deep to right to make it 4-2.
Sogard, who’d had his contract selected by the Brewers
after Ryan Braun was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a strained left calf, was hitting .330 with three homers and 17 runs batted in for the Sky Sox.
Manager Craig Counsell wasted no time getting Sogard into the lineup, as he started him at shortstop ahead of Orlando Arcia. Sogard then rewarded his skipper’s faith with a pair of walks followed his first majorleague homer since Sept. 23, 2015, when he was still a stalwart with the Oakland A’s.
Sogard missed all of 2016 due to various injuries, and Oakland cut him loose in the off-season. He signed a minor-league deal with Milwaukee, and played well in the spring to get himself into the picture.
“I really like when we call guys up to get them in there,” Counsell said before the game. “The matchup kind of worked today, where I thought it was a good spot with adding a left-handed hitter to the lineup.
“I do like getting those guys right into the action. I think it helps them and gets a lot of stuff out of the way for them. He’s very well-equipped to handle this.” BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
■ Ryan Braun’s latest stint on the disabled list is just the third of his career. He was on the DL from June 14-July 7, 2013 with a right-thumb contusion and from May 3-12, 2014 with a right oblique strain.
The Brewers have been especially diligent in giving Braun days off in recent years to keep issues like his right thumb and lower back – both of which have required surgical procedures – from ballooning into bigger issues and therefore forcing him to miss more time.
■ General manager David Stearns was asked whether he and his staff considered bringing up an outfield prospect like Lewis Brinson instead of utility man Eric Sogard when Braun was placed on the DL.
“We talked about every possibility, as we always do whenever we have to make a roster move,” he said. “In this case, we knew (Hernán Pérez) was going to get the majority of the ABs that were left with Ryan going on the DL, so it didn’t make sense for us at this point to bring up one of our top prospects from down there when there wasn’t going to be consistent playing time.” STAT SHEET
■ Corey Knebel has at least one strikeout in each of his 19 appearances this season, and his total of 29 leads National League relievers while ranking third in the major leagues.
He needs one more to tie John Axford’s franchise record for consecutive games with a strikeout by a reliever set from Aug. 3-Oct. 1, 2010. Knebel is tied with Tyler Thornburg (April 6-May 21, 2016) and Chris Bosio (April 9-June 7, 1987) for second place.
■Manager Craig Counsell has utilized 31 different lineups through 36 games.
RECORD This year: 19-17 (10-11 home; 9-6 away)
Last year: 15-21 ATTENDANCE Friday: 28,306 2017 total: 585,089 (27,861 avg.)
Last year: 571,679 (27,223 avg.) NEXT GAME
Saturday: Brewers vs. Mets, 6:10 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Zach Davies (3-2, 5.60) vs. New York RHP Robert Gsellman (2-2, 6.54). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.