Offense baffling but Braun heats up
Another day, more offensive weirdness from the Milwaukee Brewers.
Keyed by home runs by Keston Hiura in Game 1 and Ryan Braun in Game 2 of their doubleheader on Wednesday, the Brewers scored a total of six first-inning runs against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Throw in the two they scored Tuesday on homers by Christian Yelich and Braun, and their first-inning total climbed to eight in about a 27-hour span.
Why is that noteworthy? Because in their first 46 games the Brewers scored a grand total of five – yes, – runs in the opening inning. Prior to Tuesday, they hadn’t pushed a run across in the opening frame since all the way back on Aug. 29, a span of 14 games.
“We probably doubled our first-inning run output for the year in a day, which probably is not a good thing to do at this point in the season,” manager Craig Counsell guesstimated.
He wasn’t far off.
After all, this is a team that has been one of the worst with the bats throughout the majority of this weird pandemic season.
Considering Lorenzo Cain opted out early, Yelich never got going, Hiura leads the National League in strikeouts, Braun has been in and out of the lineup with a balky back and most of the Brewers’ offseason additions have not come close to panning out, the struggle for consistency isn’t a total shock.
But these last eight days really boggle the mind.
Start with the 19-0 beatdown Milwaukee put on the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park last Wednesday. The Brewers scored in six of the nine innings, racked up 21 hits and went deep five times in one of the most lopsided victories in club history.
There had to be carryover to last weekend’s big series against the Chicago Cubs at Miller Park, right?
Not quite. The Brewers won the first game, 1-0, before closer Josh Hader imploded and allowed four runs in the ninth in a 4-2 loss.
The ultimate indignity came Sunday, when a relatively unknown right-hander named Alec Mills no-hit the Brewers (walking three) for just the fourth time in a game that finished 12-0.
Another huge series for Milwaukee began Monday, with the Cardinals coming to town for five games in three days.
Both games of Monday’s doubleheader went to extras with the Brewers winning Game 1, 2-1, in eight innings and then dropping Game 2, 3-2.
Once again in the grip of an extended offensive cold spell, what do the Brewers do? They explode for an 18-3 victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday in a game started by St. Louis ace Jack Flaherty. Milwaukee put up a season-best seven runs in the fourth and six more in the fifth and finished with 15 hits and four homers.
Then it was back to scratching for runs in Game 1 on Wednesday, with
Adam Wainwright allowing a Yelich single and Hiura’s two-run homer in the first and a pair of Avisaíl García singles the rest of the way in a seven-inning, complete-game 4-2 Brewers loss.
Braun’s three-run blast and Jedd Gyorko’s sacrifice fly off Johan Oviedo gave the Brewers an ultra-rare 4-0 lead in the first and Jacob Nottingham finished off a 6-0 victory with a two-run homer in the sixth.
Speaking of Braun, he had an interesting day. The homer he hit was the 350th of his career – a notable milestone for Milwaukee’s all-time leader in that category.
“I think when you’re at the place he’s at in his career, these are the games you’re dying to be in,” Counsell said. “These are games you want to be in. It’s a credit to his skill set that he’s able to deliver in the biggest games still. And that he’s a force and a presence in these games.
“It’s a real credit to him.” Braun is feeling good and with the Brewers still in the hunt for a playoff spot, has been playing much more regularly down the stretch. But he turns 37 on Nov. 17 and has already acknowledged that the 2020 season – truncated as it has been – could be the last of his 14-year career.
It was pointed out to Braun that this weekend’s three-game series with the Kansas City Royals could be his last at Miller Park, but he said he hadn’t given that possibility much thought.
“As much as anything, I feel grateful for being part of so many special moments,” he said. “Excited by the fact that we still have an opportunity to play meaningful games. If the team was in a different position, I would probably take more time to reflect on that personally.
“But you just try to stay present at all times as you get late into a season like this because every game is of the utmost importance and significance.”