The ball keeps rolling
Braun pulls magic HR out of his hat
After a season's worth of tough luck, maybe things are starting to turn for Ryan Braun.
The veteran leftfielder, who's griped all season long about hitting the ball hard while not reaping the proper results for his efforts, finally experienced some good fortune on Friday night.
He hit two home runs, with his second shot in the eighth inning out of rightfielder Nicholas Castellanos's glove, landing on top of the wall and eventually rolling over to push the Milwaukee Brewers past the Detroit Tigers, 6-5, at Miller Park.
Braun and Christian Yelich both homered in the first inning as well as Milwaukee held serve with the Chicago Cubs, who beat the St. Louis Cardinals earlier in the day.
Chicago's lead in the Central Division remains at one game, with two games remaining in the regular season.
Milwaukee appeared to be in good shape heading into the eighth with a 5-3 lead over offensively challenged Detroit and with Josh Hader coming into the game.
But things quickly went south for the left-hander, who opened by nicking leadoff man Jeimer Candelario with a pitch and then one batter later surrendered a game-tying homer to .209-hitting Dawel Lugo — a shot that took the air out of the selbouncing
lout crowd of 44,770.
It was the first homer of Lugo's career and the first pinch-hit homer for the Tigers since Sept. 22, 2016.
Hader followed by walking Castellanos, then got Niko Goodrum to fly out before exiting in favor of Joakim Soria (2-1), who finished up the inning.
It didn't take long for the game to turn on a dime once again.
Braun opened the bottom of the eighth against the right-hander Victor Alcántara, and in a 2-2 count took a 90mph slider the other way.
The ball carried to the wall, where Castellanos made a leap and actually got a glove on it. But he wasn't able to reel it in.
The ball wound up on the padding at the top of the wall and rolled to the right for a bit before dropping softly over the other side for what proved to be the decisive run.
It was the fifth homer in four days and second two-homer game over that same stretch for Braun. It also gave him his ninth season with 20 or more homers.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
STRONG STARTER: Yelich's first-inning homer was his seventh of the season. The only inning he's gone deep in more frequently is the fifth (nine). Yelich has also been remarkably consistent overall, hitting at least .308 in every inning coming into Friday.
TWICE AS NICE: Yelich homered in the first inning and walked in the third, marking the 83rd time this season he'd reached base twice in a game and tying him with Boston's Mookie Betts for ninth in the major leagues. Houston's Alex Bregman leads with 89 such games. Yelich drew a walk in the fourth as well, marking the ninth consecutive plate appearance he'd reached base.
TAKE A BREAK: The Brewers had their fourth and final Thursday off leading into their final series of the regular season, and it couldn't have come at a better time following their playoff-clinching celebration Wednesday night in St. Louis.
WAIT AND SEE: Wade Miley will start Saturday's game. The Brewers have not named a starter for Sunday mostly because it will depend on what's at stake as far as the postseason, and that won't be determined until later Saturday.
LEARN TO DEAL: While the schedule makers did the Brewers a favor by lining up the woeful Tigers for what's become an important series, the lack of
familiarity with an American League team comprised of many unknown, young players can cause issues.
"You don't know as much about these teams. You just have to deal with that," manager Craig Counsell said. "It's different, but at the same time it's a baseball game out there."
RECORD
This year: 93-67 Last year: 85-75
ATTENDANCE
Friday: 44,770 (sixth sellout) This year: 2,763,507 (34,981 avg.) Last year: 2,493,547 (31,564 avg.)
COMING UP
Saturday: Brewers vs. Tigers, 7:10 p.m. Milwaukee LHP Wade Miley (5-2, 2.32) vs. Detroit LHP Daniel Norris (0-5, 5.22). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.