Christian Yelich has yet to have the exact same power surge this season that made him such a longball threat in 2018 and 19, however he put the stamp on the Brewers offensive surge en route to a 10-4 win over the Rockies on Saturday.
Yelich stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the eighth to deal with Colorado reliever Ben Bowden. Luis Urías had actually just hit a two-run single to make it a three-run game, triggering Rockies manager Bud Black to bring the left-handed-pitching Bowden in to deal with the left-handed-hitting Yelich.
As Yelich waited off to the side while Bowden warmed up, he could feel the strength of the crowd.
” It was really loud that inning, and even during that pitching change, you could feel the environment, just everybody being into it,” Yelich said. “Its an amazing sensation, and it absolutely affects the game.
Yelich stepped into the box when Bowden was ready to toss his first pitch. On the very first pitch he saw in the lefty-lefty matchup, Yelich cranked the ball out to right-center field, driving and clearing the wall in 2 to make it a 9-4 ballgame.
And that environment he felt before his at-bat? The roar from the crowd almost blew the roof off of American Family Field.
” The energy, the enthusiasm is huge for us,” stated Avisaíl García, whos seventh-inning solo shot tied the video game at 4. “Were playing at home right now and its big.
Leading up to Yelichs blast, Daniel Robertson started the bottom of the eighth with a walk, Manny Piña got struck by a pitch in the next plate appearance and Jace Peterson singled on a bunt to the pitcher. That packed the bases with nobody out for Omar Narváez, who fought through a nine-pitch at-bat against Rockies reducer Carlos Estévez and broke a fly ball to deep center to drive in the consent run with a sacrifice fly.
Two more would score on Urías single up the middle, while Willy Adames RBI double made it a 10-4 game, but it was Yelichs crowning achievement that supplied the emphasize for the eighth-inning slugfest.
Yelich had just 4 home runs in 135 at-bats on the year coming into Saturday, which can still be an unexpected figure considering he invested multiple seasons among the top sluggers in the National League. While the power hasnt been around this year, he is still doing things to contribute.
Hes taken the most strolls (35) on the team. His 29 runs are 4 behind García for the most scored on the Brewers, and his.407 on-base portion would be amongst the very best marks in the Majors if he qualified.
Even on Saturday alone, he was 1-for-4 prior to the home run and almost smoked a leadoff home run in the bottom of the third that passed away a couple of feet in front of the wall in center.
” The concept that Christian needs to strike homers every at-bat is incorrect,” manager Craig Counsell said. “Thats not how this works. He got a pitch to strike, he did something excellent with it, had a base hit previously in the video game. Christians doing a great task. Hes assisting us win, hes having a nice offensive season. I know his standards are truly high and all of our standards for him are truly high, however [he] simply continues to have good at-bats.”
Though the homer isnt confirmation that Yelichs power is back, it was a great tip of what he can do to the baseball at his finest.
” It was truly loud that inning, and even throughout that pitching change, you could feel the environment, simply everyone being into it,” Yelich said.” The energy, the passion is huge for us,” said Avisaíl García, whos seventh-inning solo shot tied the game at 4.” The notion that Christian has to hit homers every at-bat is wrong,” manager Craig Counsell stated. He got a pitch to hit, he did something great with it, had a base hit previously in the video game. Hes helping us win, hes having a nice offending season.
