It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. That pretty much sums up the Brewers 13 inning incredible 8-7 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night/Saturday morning. It was the type of victory that can really help carry a struggling team into better performances overall. The victory also continued the Brewers domination of the Cubs at Miller Park, having won nine straight over the Northsiders at home.
The game really had it all, it was a pitchers duel that turned into a slug-fest. During the opening 6 innings the teams managed to combine for just 1 run, a Brewers run in the bottom of the first. However, fast forward to the final 7 innings and the two teams exploded for a combined 14 runs in the slug-fest that became the late innings.
No one benefited from that slugfest more than struggling Brewers outfielder Corey Hart who was 1 for his last 25 entering the game and went nuts getting 4 hits in the game. All were important hits but none more so than the 2 run bomb he hit in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game back up at 7-7. It was only Hart’s fourth career 4 run game and he would play an even bigger role, finally ending the game with his first pitch walk-off single in the bottom of the 13th inning.
Performances like that and seeing Braun, Ramirez, and Kottars walking a ton (Braun walked 4 times, Kottaras 3, and Ramirez 2) really bode well for the future of this team at the plate. Being patient and not swinging at everything you see can really help a team that’s in a funk offensively.
I’ve seen enough baseball in my 30 years on this earth to know a momentum game when I see it and a game where everything that could go wrong did, yet you still win is exactly that type of game. Does it mean we will win against the Cubs this afternoon? No.
But it does mean that we should see the offense wake up a bit more. Just take Corey Hart for example. He’s probably the streakiest hitter the Brewers have and after last night’s performance you have to think that he is out of his slump, which can only help the likes of Braun and Ramirez in front of him since less pressure to produce big time results will fall on their shoulders.
Heck, just look back to last season when the Brewers were nearly in the same position record wise and began their comeback by feasting on the bottom of the division (Pirates last year). We entered the series against the Pirates at this exact time in the season where we are now in the exact position we were in entering last nights game. Sweeping that series helped to propel the Brewers to one of the best single months it’s had in club history, going 17-12 for the month of May. They did their damage at home, going 13-2, and it all started with the Pirates series.
Perhaps we are about to witness the same type of thing, but under vastly different circumstances. History tends to repeat itself with this club and let’s hope that’s the case as the Brewers begin to try and pull themselves back in to contention.
Let’s not forget that it all starts with winning series and that goal can be accomplished with a win today.
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