Worth the wait: Brewers sweep twin bill

CHICAGO -- Here was something novel for Christian Yelich in the nightcap of the Brewers’ doubleheader sweep of the Cubs on Tuesday.

How about four at-bats in the leadoff hole?

It was Yelich’s first start in that spot in nearly three years, and while it didn't solve anything, it did position the slumping star to deliver a go-ahead groundout in the six-run fifth inning that decided the Brewers’ 6-3 win over the Cubs in Game 2. Thus ended a long day and night at Wrigley Field that began with Milwaukee’s 4-2 win in Game 1 amid crushing heat and humidity, then a wait of more than three hours between games and another wait of one hour and 29 minutes during a rain-delayed finale.

It was all worth it.

With home runs from Willy Adames, Avisaíl García and Lorenzo Cain in Tuesday’s opener and a station-to-station rally in the nightcap that saw six different players drive in a run, the Brewers moved a season-high at 22 games over .500 and added a game and a half to their lead over the Reds in the National League Central standings. Cincinnati lost in Atlanta on Tuesday.

“I know these guys are worn out, especially with the rain delay in the second game,” said pitching prospect Aaron Ashby, whose own wait to shake the disappointment of a rough Major League debut against the Cubs back in June was washed out after two scoreless innings of Game 2. “It’s been a really long day at the ballpark for these guys.”

The Brewers have built their division lead with a resurgent offense that’s benefitted from the additions of Adames, Eduardo Escobar and Rowdy Tellez, an ever-changing bullpen that could feature the left-handed pitching prospect Ashby later this year if he pitches with the promise he showed Tuesday -- and most of all, a fine starting rotation led by Freddy Peralta and the two other aces lined up to start the remaining games of this series, Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff.

But their biggest disappointment so far is not coming up with answers for Yelich, who was frustrated enough after a .786 OPS in the shortened 2020 season before seeing another production dip to date in 2021. So, with Kolten Wong among the Game 1 starters cooling off after a hot and humid opening game, Yelich started in the leadoff hole for the first time since August 2018.

It’s not such a wild idea; Yelich has elite speed and baserunning ability, and for all his trouble driving the baseball over the past two seasons, he had a .399 on-base percentage at the All-Star break.

That has come down since then, however. Including an 11-day absence after he came down with COVID-19, Yelich is 7-for-43 (.163) since the break and hitless in his last 20 at-bats with eight strikeouts.

“He won’t lead off tomorrow,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “Without Kolten in there, it fit. I think at this point after missing 11 days, we just have to get at-bats underneath him. It reminds me of how he wasn’t sharp coming back after missing time with the back. He’s not locked in right now, there’s no doubt about it.”

So, the Brewers’ offense has pushed on around Yelich. In Tuesday’s opening game, Cain hit his first home run since May 3, Adames hit his 16th home run since joining the Brewers on May 22 and García hit his 20th home run this season, a go-ahead, two-run shot that carried 457 feet.

Credit Adames, Escobar and Luis Urías for grinding through starts in both games on Tuesday including two hits apiece and an RBI apiece from Escobar and Urías in Game 2. That turned into a bullpen game for the Brewers when a serious line of storms arrived just as Ashby was taking his first Major League at-bat in the top of the third inning. He’d already dealt two scoreless innings on the mound, including his first Major League strikeout.

It marked quite an improvement from his debut against the Cubs in Milwaukee on June 30, when Ashby surrendered seven runs (four earned) and recorded only two outs, forcing the Brewers to come back from a 7-0 deficit before they swung a bat for a stunning, 15-7 win.

Ashby was the Brewers’ 27th man in the doubleheader so presumably he’s headed back to Triple-A Nashville. But he left a much better impression.

“I thought he had a chance to go pretty deep into this game because his stuff was excellent,” Counsell said. “That's how he's been pitching at Nashville so it was exciting to see. When he's good, the ball is kind of moving all over the place.”

Had Ashby been champing at the bit for a second chance?

“A lot,” he said. “Ever since I was sent back down, all I’ve wanted to do is get back up here. I’ve been working a lot down in Nashville with the pitching coach and everyone there and kind of got on more of a routine and was more pointed in the stuff that I was doing in the way I prepared and everything like that. And it paid off.”

Just like everything on Tuesday, it was worth the wait.