Yelich has big night even without BP
CINCINNATI - Christian Yelich didn’t have a good feeling early Wednesday night.
A passing thunderstorm deprived both the Milwaukee Brewers and the Cincinnati Reds of their customary pregame batting practice, leaving the teams to instead take their swings in the indoor cages at Great American Ball Park.
Yelich got his work in, and then after a 27-minute delay proceeded to turn in a performance at the plate that ranked among the best in franchise history. He went 6 for 6 and hit for the cycle, helping lead the Brewers to a crazy 13-12, 10-inning victory.
“In the cage today, it was a zoo,” Yelich said after the game, which went 4 hours 16 minutes and finished just shy of midnight local time.
“We didn’t have any (batting practice) on the field today. You do your flip routine. It was just one of those days where it was ‘not it.’ You leave there and go, ‘All right, we’re going to go out there and find a way to compete. Do anything you can to help the guys win.’
“Baseball is a crazy game that way. Things that you don’t really expect to happen in this game, happen. “It was one of those nights.” Indeed it was.
Yelich singled in his first two at-bats, slugged his 26th home run of the season in his third and then doubled in his fourth to set the stage for his all-important triple one inning later in the seventh.
Facing right-hander David Hernandez and with the Brewers trailing, 10-9, in a see-saw game, Yelich roped a shot into the gap in right-center. Lorenzo Cain scored easily from second and Yelich slid head-first into third with Milwaukee’s eighth cycle ever and its first since George Kottaras accomplished the feat on Sept. 3, 2011 at Houston.
“Eddie told me,” said Yelich of thirdbase coach Ed Sedar, when asked if he knew his fifth hit was the one that got him into the record books.
“It was pretty cool. It’s one of those things that you never really expect to do. Obviously, you have to have some luck involved in it. That’s always a factor when you do something like that.”
It was just the second cycle in the major leagues this season. Boston’s Mookie Betts did it first in Toronto on Aug. 9.
It was first cycle against Cincinnati since the Braves’ Freddie Freeman did it on June 15, 2016 in Atlanta.
Aside from Yelich and Kottaras, the other Brewers to hit for the cycle are Jody Gerut (May 8, 2010 at Arizona), Chad Moeller (April 27, 2004 vs. Cincinnati), Paul Molitor (May 15, 1991 at Minnesota), Robin Yount (June 12, 1988 at Chicago White Sox), Charlie Moore (Oct. 1, 1980 at California) and Mike Hegan (Sept. 3, 1976 at Detroit).
While the cycle was completed, Yelich wasn’t quite finished.
He got one more at-bat in the ninth, and with two outs he became just the fourth player in Brewers history to record six hits in a game with an infield single.
Jean Segura (May 28, 2013 at Minnesota), Kevin Reimer (Aug. 24, 1993 at Oakland, 13 innings) and Johnny Briggs (Aug. 4, 1973 at Cleveland) were the others.
Yelich also made a huge defensive play in Wednesday’s game, cutting down Eugenio Suárez at the plate to end the seventh inning and maintain a 10-10 tie.
Philadelphia’s Johnny Callison was the last player to hit for the cycle and throw out a runner at the plate, on June 27, 1963.
Manager Craig Counsell, who participated in and witnessed all sorts of big moments during his playing career, said Yelich’s night ranked right up there with the best he’s seen.
It also solidified Yelich even more as a legitimate candidate to become the first Brewers player since Ryan Braun in 2011 to be named the NL’s most valuable player.
Yelich followed up his big night with an 0-for-4 day at the plate in the Brewers’ 2-1, 11-inning victory on Thursday. He drove in the first run of the game by drawing a bases-loaded walk in the fifth.