Chourio turns around to bat left-handed, hits one 360 feet!

ST. LOUIS – Your eyes did not deceive you during the 18th inning of Brewers baseball on Tuesday.

Jackson Chourio actually batted left-handed.

And he really did come close to hitting a home run.

The right-handed-hitting Milwaukee outfielder said he did it on a dare during the ninth inning of a 10-2 win over the Cardinals in Game 2 of the Brewers’ doubleheader sweep at Busch Stadium. A seven-run seventh had turned a one-run game into a rout, and the Cardinals sent utility man Bryan Torres to the mound for the final two innings.

“They asked me before if I wanted to try hitting left-handed, and I told them, ‘yeah,’” Chourio said via translator Daniel de Monsesert. “I had fun doing it. One of the most important parts of this game is to just have fun. Thanks to God, it was pretty good contact there.”

Torres’ eephus pitch floated in at 34.9 mph and Chourio hit it a projected 360 feet before Cardinals center fielder Nathan Church caught it a few steps shy of the warning track. Chourio said he was surprised how far it flew.

It was Chourio’s first MLB at-bat as a left-handed hitter.

“He looked good,” manager Pat Murphy said. “It was the first time he’s swung the bat left-handed in years, he said, but he looked really good. He’s an athlete. He’s a baseball player.”

“It was something new,” Chourio said. “I tried it, and I had fun doing it.”

The Brewers had fun, too. They earned their first doubleheader sweep of the Cardinals, also taking the opening game, 4-3.