Aguilar delivers one-two punch
Jesús Aguilar is rapidly reaching superstar status in Milwaukee.
The Venezuelan slugger, who three months ago appeared to be fighting an uphill battle to make the Brewers’ opening-day roster, beat the St. Louis Cardinals with two mighty swings of his bat Friday night.
His first, in the seventh inning, broke up a no-hit bid by Jack Flaherty. Then his second, with one out in the ninth, gave the Brewers their fifth walk-off victory of the season, a 2-1 thriller at Miller Park.
Stress levels were high in the seventh, with Flaherty within nine outs of becoming the fourth opposing pitcher to no-hit the Brewers and first since Justin Verlander did it in 2007 in Detroit.
Flaherty opened by striking out Travis Shaw, which brought Aguilar to the plate. Having gone 0 for 2 to that point, Aguilar didn’t wait long to make his first swing count.
On Flaherty’s second offering — a slider down — Aguilar turned on it and belted it out to left, giving the Brewers their first hit and tying the game at 1-1. It was Aguilar’s 15th homer and gave him 48 runs batted in — both team highs.
Flaherty finished out the inning and departed with a career-high-tying 13 strikeouts to his credit, and was replaced by flame-throwing Jordan Hicks in the eighth.
Eric Sogard greeted him with a ringing single to center off a 100-mph fastball but then found himself in the middle of a scrum after Hernán Pérez tried bunting him up to second.
Sogard slid hard into second base and knocked an off-balance Yairo Muñoz off his feet as he took the throw. Words were exchanged, and both benches and bullpens emptied quickly in response.
The dust-up proved to be short-lived, however. But after the Brewers got Pérez
to second as the potential go-ahead run with two outs, Lorenzo Cain struck out.
After Corey Knebel set the Cardinals down in order in the top of the ninth, Bud Norris struck out Shaw to bring Aguilar to the plate.
Norris quickly got ahead, 0-2, and Aguilar fouled off his third offering before going out to get a 96-mph fastball and driving it out to right-center to spark a furious celebration that was capped by Aguilar having his jersey ripped off and being doused with the Gatorade cooler.
Aguilar then received a standing ovation from those remaining in the crowd.
There was little offense to speak of on either side in the early going, with Marcell Ozuna’s two-out, RBI single in the third off Junior Guerra accounting for the lone run.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
MILEY HEADS OUT: Left-hander Wade Miley began a minor-league rehab assignment Friday with Class AA Biloxi, allowing three hits, one earned run and no walks with three strikeouts. Miley is on the 60-day disabled list with a right oblique strain suffered during his last start May 8. Manager Craig Counsell said previously that Miley was expected to make at least four starts in the minors before returning.
BRAUN NOT QUITE BACK: Ryan Braun was out of the lineup again Friday, two days after undergoing another cryogenic injection on his right thumb. But based on what Counsell said, Braun should be back in the lineup at some point this weekend.
“He’s available,” Counsell said. “It’s just the more time we can give him here to let the inflammation go away, hopefully (it) will be better. He’s good to go. He’s ready to play.”
SEE YOU LATER: The Brewers caught a break early Friday when Cardinals centerfielder Tommy Pham was ejected by Timmons in the first inning. Timmons rang Pham up on a called third strike, then ran him shortly thereafter after Pham had some words for him from the dugout. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny came out for an explanation but had no recourse other than to insert Harrison Bader into Pham’s spot.
Thames was fortunate not to be tossed by Timmons after he struck out to end the third inning and slammed his bat and helmet to the ground in protest of an earlier called strike.
JACOB’S LADDER: Since being recalled from Class AAA Colorado Springs on May 27, right-hander Jacob Barnes hasn’t allowed a run over 10 appearances (10 1/3 innings) while striking out 10.
“Jacob’s been really good since he got back,” said Counsell. “For Jacob, it’s all about attacking the hitters and just going after them. When he does that, he always gets good results and is very rarely on the short end.
“When he’s on the attack, he’s making them swing the bat or offering pitches right on the strike zone and that’s when he’s going to have success. His problems come when the misses get a little bigger.”
BRENT IS BUMMED: Brent Suter won his team-leading eighth game Thursday night, a fact that very much pleased the left-hander. But he was also upset he broke his favorite bat in his first at-bat, a popout in the second inning. It was the same bat Suter used to hit his first career homer off Cleveland’s Corey Kluber on May 8. “That was my baby,” he said.