Anyone who thought the Milwaukee Brewers wouldn’t be doing much in their rebuilding year surely must have forgotten about both their tenured talent in Ryan Braun and the burgeoning prospects the organization is currently littered with.
Both made their points on Saturday night in a 15-6 routing of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Braun was in top-notch form, not only tying the record for number of runs batted in in a single game with seven, but getting some much-deserved retribution on one of two opposing pitchers that has some serious history with the Brewers left fielder.
The first of two three-run home runs came in the sixth inning with no outs on a 1-1 pitch from Evan Marshall.
In 2014, Marshall received a standing ovation from the crowd at Chase Field for drilling Braun in the backside following a ball that sailed just behind the slugger’s back one pitch prior. The move resulted in an immediate ejection. In post-game interviews, Marshall claimed ‘the ball got away’ from him despite the vocal nature of manager Kirk Gibson, who has had a strong and public distaste for the Brewers’ veteran outfielder.
The Diamondbacks were knocked out of World Series contention in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, a game in which Braun went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored shortly before failing his drug test later that month and leaving a sour taste with Gibson for years to come.
Even during the game in 2014, Marshall’s glowing reception was short-lived, as his pitch loaded the bases for Jonathan Lucroy, who proceeded to turn the Brewers 3-4 disadvantage into a 7-4 lead with a grand slam.
Braun got his own chance for retaliation on Saturday night, doubling down with a 422 foot home run – his 17th of the season – over the fence in left center field to put the Brewers up 5-0.
An inning later, with one out and runners on the corners, he notched his 18th against Dominic Leone with a 392-footer into the right field crowd, increasing the lead to 9-0.
On top of the sacrifice fly delivered in the first inning, he totaled seven RBI, tying Jose Hernandez (2001), Richie Sexon (2002), Ted Kubiak (1970), and former teammate Aaron Hill, who drove in seven earlier this year, on the Brewers record list of most RBI in a single game.
But Braun wasn’t the only batter to make his presence known in the team’s best offensive showing of the season.
Keon Broxton, the Brewers’ promising young outfielder, also set a record of his own, becoming the first rookie in franchise history to collect five hits in a game. He added a walk, a stolen base and a pair of RBI in the process.
His performance, along with a pinch hit home run in Friday night’s game, brought his batting numbers from .161/.284/.287 up to .215/.330/.376 over the course of seven plate appearances.
The Brewers leadoff man, recently converted third baseman Jonathan Villar, also displayed his ability to get on-base with four hits and a walk, tallying three runs and two RBI in the 19-hit outing.
Recent call-up Orlando Arcia got in the mix as well, adding a pair of hits and a pair of walks to his line, scoring fours runs on the night.
The win was also a sign of success for right-handed starter Matt Garza, who logged two earned runs or less in his second consecutive start – his fourth on the year since returning from the disabled list in mid-June – and bringing his 5.74 ERA down to 5.03 in that time period.
Jonathan Powell is the Brewers Staff Writer for Outside Pitch MLB. Follow me on Twitter @JP_OPSN.
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