Vogelbach powers Brewers to fourth straight victory
Big week with rivals will determine fate
The Milwaukee Brewers have put together their longest winning streak of the season at just the right time.
With Daniel Vogelbach providing all the offense with a two- and threerun homer and Josh Lindblom showing tremendous focus in putting aside a personal issue to make a strong start, they downed the Kansas City Royals, 5-3, on Sunday afternoon in their final game at Miller Park.
The Brewers have now won four consecutive games after sweeping away the Royals to improve to 26-26, marking the first time they’ve been .500 since Aug. 19.
With Cincinnati also winning Sunday, Milwaukee remains tied
with the Reds for third place in the Central Division at five games out with second-place St. Louis defeating Pittsburgh, 2-1.
And with three games coming up in Cincinnati beginning Monday and five to close out the regular season in St. Louis, the Brewers’ hopes for making a third consecutive postseason appearance for the first time in franchise history rest squarely on their shoulders.
“It’s in front of us,” said manager Craig Counsell. “It’s not a situation of scoreboard watching for us for the last week.
“Play well, win series and I think we’ll have a good result.”
The Brewers have unquestionably gotten good results from Vogelbach since claiming him off waivers Sept. 3.
Making his first start for them at first base, he sandwiched a pair of deft plays with the glove around his first big blast. That came in the first inning, when he hit a two-out, two-strike, two-run home run to straightaway center off Royals right-hander Brad Keller.
It was the first surrendered by Keller since Aug. 9 of last season.
“He’s changed us against right-handed pitching,” Counsell said. “He’s probably doing more than you would ever expect. Our fortune was that it’s just a guy who was completely capable of it.
“As much as that, I think there’s a little edge to him that’s been really positive for us.”
Lindblom, staked to that quick 2-0 lead, faced one over the minimum through the first five innings in his first start back from the bereavement list. He told reporters after the game his wife, Aurielle, had a medical emergency last week and that she will need a medical procedure next week but that “everything is going well.”
Brewers catcher Omar Narvaez, right, congratulates Daniel Vogelbach on Vogelbach's three-run home run in the sixth inning Sunday.
Inducing a lot of soft contact, Lindblom got the Royals to pop out six times while striking out a pair.
His final inning was the sixth, with Erick Mejia opening with a double and eventually coming in to score on a Whit Merrifield groundout after Freddy Peralta had taken over.
Lindblom (2-3), who threw 74 pitches, allowed three hits and didn’t issue a walk. The run allowed was his first since Sept. 1.
Keller, 4-2 with a 2.06 ERA entering the day, retired 10 straight after a pair of second-inning walks.
But he ran into trouble in the sixth when Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun -- potentially playing his final game in Milwaukee -- opened by singling.
That brought Vogelbach to the plate. He worked an eight-pitch at-bat, fouling off a pair of 3-2 pitches before lining a three-run shot out to left-center that upped the Brewers’ lead to 5-1 and chased Keller from the game.
The homer was Vogelbach’s third with the Brewers in 11 games and he’s now hitting a .417 with 10 runs batted in and an OPS of 1.197 since joining his new team.
Vogelbach had an opportunity for a game for the ages when he came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh but struck out.
“I try to take what they give me,” he said. “That’s a spot with the bases loaded where I’m just trying to get a hit and drive in two more runs. I wasn’t able to do it but each and every time at the plate, I’m trying to stick with my approach.”
Vogelbach’s performance at the plate has obviously earned him plenty of kudos from his teammates. So, too, has his presence, which by all counts is as outsized as his 6-foot-, 270-pound frame.
“He hopped on the Positivity Train. He’s one of the guys driving the train right now,” said Braun, referring to the motto the team’s position players have been sporting on custom-made t-shirts the last couple weeks.
The Royals made a game of it in the ninth when Salvador Pérez hit a two-run homer off Brent Suter and then brought the tying run to the plate, forcing Counsell to bring Josh Hader into the game.
But two pitches later, Hunter Dozier popped out and not long thereafter the Brewers were embarking on their season-defining road trip.
RECORD
Overall: 26-26 Home: 15-14 Away: 11-12
COMING UP
Monday: Brewers at Reds, 5:40 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Brandon Woodruff (2-3, 3.45) vs. Cincinnati RHP Luis Castillo (3-5, 3.03). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.