Christian Yelich rides to Brewers' rescue on cycle, keeps second-half roll going

Tom Gatto

Christian Yelich rides to Brewers' rescue on cycle, keeps second-half roll going image

The short version of Wednesday's Brewers-Reds game: Christian Yelich kept hitting, both teams kept scoring runs, and home plate umpire Tony Randazzo kept making head-scratching calls.

Yelich's hitting was, by far, the least surprising development.

MORE: Reds' Suarez gives reason for breakout season

The All-Star outfielder became the eighth player in Brewers history to hit for the cycle, and then added another hit for good measure to finish 6 for 6. He also drove in three runs in a wild 13-12, 10-inning Brewers victory.

Yelich took over the National League batting lead as his average rose to .319, and he continued an unlikely power surge with his eighth home run in his last 10 games.

His post-All-Star break production: a .369/.413/.725 slash line and 15 of his career-high 26 home runs.

"It's really hard to explain," Yelich told reporters, per MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.

The Brewers don't need explanations, of course; they just need him to keep mashing.

The hit that completed his cycle — a game-tying triple in the seventh inning — was akin to an NBA "Ball don't lie!" moment, and it came at a crucial moment for the Crew.

Yelich delivered a half-inning after Randazzo and his fellow umps appeared to blow a call that hurt the Brewers. Randazzo ruled Reds pitcher/pinch hitter Michael Lorenzen didn't bunt at an up-and-in two-strike fastball that hit his bat after he had squared around (explanation by crew chief Bill Welke, via C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic).

Lorenzen, given a second chance, belted a three-run home run to give Cincinnati a four-run lead.

Yelich wasn't done in that seventh inning. After giving the Brewers the tie, he preserved it in the bottom half when he threw out Eugenio Suarez at the plate 

"He did everything tonight, he really did." Brewers manager Craig Counsell told reporters, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Todd Rosiak.

The Brewers are fighting for a postseason berth even after they strengthened their roster before the July 31 deadline with third baseman Mike Moustakas, infielder Jonathan Schoop and reliever Joakim Soria. Bad pitching is the main reason; the Crew has a 5.74 staff ERA in August.

Soria caught the bug Wednesday when he blew a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth. His wild pitch scored Billy Hamilton, who was ruled safe by replay after Randazzo wrongly called him out at the plate.

With pitchers that ineffective, the Brewers had better keep hitting the way Yelich and friends did Wednesday.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.