Brewers: Ryan Braun’s milestone homer highlights win
By Phil Watson
Ryan Braun passed Robin Yount as the Milwaukee Brewers’ all-time leader in home runs with an opposite-field blast off the facing of the second deck in the sixth inning off former Brewer left-hander Chris Narveson, highlighting a homer-filled 8-7 win over the Miami Marlins Wednesday afternoon.
Braun’s homer was his 22nd of the season and the 252nd of his career, surpassing the 251 hit by the Hall of Famer Yount during his 20-year career in Milwaukee.
ALSO ON DAIRYLAND EXPRESS: Milwaukee’s Best: The Best Of Braves, Brewers
For his part, Yount was happy to see his record go down.
“It’s about time we got a guy with some real power on the top of that list,” Yount told MLB.com.
More from Milwaukee Brewers
- Milwaukee Brewers are making a bold bet with Jackson Chourio
- 5 Pitchers Milwaukee Brewers Should Trade For
- Milwaukee Brewers: 3 trade packages the New York Mets could make for Corbin Burnes
- This former player will eventually manage the Milwaukee Brewers
- Milwaukee Brewers: 3 trade packages the Baltimore Orioles could offer for Corbin Burnes
The Brewers (52-70) closed out a 4-2 homestand by salvaging the finale of the three-game set against the Marlins (49-71) following a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies over the weekend.
Milwaukee had to fight back from deficits of 4-0, 5-2 and 6-5 before taking the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth.
Adam Lind and Elian Herrera singled and Jean Segura was hit by a Tom Koehler (8-11) pitch to load the bases before Martin Maldonado, starting behind the plate, lined a single to center to score Lind and Herrera to put the Brewers ahead 7-6.
That made a winner out of Wily Peralta (4-7) on a day when he had anything but winning stuff. The burly right-hander allowed six runs on nine hits in five innings, walking three and striking out two.
The setup guys did their job. Corey Knebel walked one and got the first two outs in the sixth before Will Smith came on to end the inning. Smith got the first two outs in the seventh before giving up a walk and exiting with two punchouts.
Jeremy Jeffress worked 1.1 innings, allowing a hit, and Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth—allowing a solo homer to Marcell Ozuna—to get his 30th save of the season. He struck out two in what was another milestone.
Rodriguez picked up career save No. 378, passing Joe Nathan of the Detroit Tigers for seventh on the all-time list. He is now baseball’s active leader in the category, as well.
Rodriguez also has converted 35 consecutive saves, a streak that dates back to last season, the longest current streak in baseball.
He is 12 behind Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley, whose 390 career saves place him sixth in MLB history.
The Marlins touched Peralta for three in the first on an RBI groundout by Martin Prado and a two-run homer by Justin Bour.
Miami made it 4-0 in the second on an RBI single by Miguel Rojas.
After Lind led off the bottom of the second with a walk, Khris Davis hammered the first of his two homers Wednesday to cut the deficit to 4-2.
Cole Gillespie doubled home a run for the Marlins in the third before Davis tied it with a three-run blast to left-center field following a two-out walk by Braun and a single by Lind.
Davis now has 14 homers on the season—seven in August.
Miami reclaimed the lead in the fifth on an RBI groundout by Bour before Maldonado put Milwaukee ahead for the first time in the bottom of the fifth.
Braun’s homer turned out to be a key insurance run after Ozuna’s blast in the ninth.
“Robin is the best player in franchise history,” Braun said of his club record. “He played here for 20 years, he accomplished so many incredible things, so any time you’re mentioned alongside his name, it’s pretty special.”
Yount thought the very idea of him being the franchise’s leader was funny more than anything.
“That’s pretty darn misleading, for me to lead anything in home runs,” Yount said. “Everybody who knows anything about statistics knows that for me to be leading our organization in home runs is only a longevity thing. There’s been far greater home run hitters in the Brewers organization than I. It was sort of humorous to me, to see my name at the top of that list.”
Yount also commented for the first time on Braun’s 2013 suspension for performance-enhancing drugs.
“After testing, boy, you certainly were taking a chance and obviously he took a chance and got caught,” Yount said. “He had to suffer the consequences that go with that and he has and it seems like he’s moved on. In all honesty, I’ve never spoken with him in any detail on the subject.”
Live Feed
Reviewing the Brew
If the fans in Milwaukee still hold a grudge against Braun, it was hard to tell when Braun popped back out of the dugout for a curtain call and a nice ovation from the announced crowd of 32,010.
The Brewers are off Thursday and open a three-game series against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on Friday at 6:05 p.m. Central.
Right-hander Jimmy Nelson (9-9, 3.61 ERA) faces off against left-hander Gio Gonzalez (9-5, 3.86) in the series opener.
Nelson lost his only career start against the Nationals at Miller Park on June 13, allowing seven runs on 10 hits in five innings with two walks and three strikeouts. He had a no-decision in his last start against the Phillies on Saturday, allowing two runs on five hits in 6.2 innings with two walks and six punchouts.
Gonzalez is 2-0 in four career starts against Milwaukee, with a 2.82 ERA and 1.254 WHIP in 22.1 innings to go with 19 strikeouts. He did not pitch in the series at Miller Park in June and he was hit hard his last time out, allowing six runs on five hits in just 2.2 innings of a 12-6 loss at San Francisco on Saturday, walking two and striking out one.
Next: Cravy To DL, Brewers To Go With 4-Man Rotation