MILWAUKEE -- Slamwaukee?
Wisconslam?
AmSlam Field?
The nickname needs workshopping. But the Brewers have the hard part down pat.
Brice Turang’s grand slam punctuated a seven-run fourth inning rally in the Brewers’ 7-1 victory against the Cubs at American Family Field on Sunday, giving Milwaukee five slams in the past eight games, including in four of the six games on what became a 5-1 homestand against the Rangers and Cubs.
That kind of clutch power doesn’t come around very often. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the only other team in Major League history to produce five grand slams over any eight-game span was the 2020 “Slam Diego” Padres, who had three overlapping stretches to that effect.
“We found the secret plan for how to hit homers with the bases loaded and, really, it’s been working,” said Brewers manager Pat Murphy. “There was a recipe online.”
Seriously, though.
“Most homers are thrown, and I think if you look at all of those grand slams that were hit, you’ll see where the pitches are,” Murphy said. “You have to be ready when you get that opportunity.”
The Brewers have been ready. Coincidentally, their summer slam started in San Diego on June 22, when Turang hit a grand slam in the ninth inning of a loss to the Padres. It continued with slams from Rhys Hoskins on Monday and Jake Bauers on Wednesday during the Brewers’ three-game sweep of the Rangers, then from rookie Jackson Chourio in Friday’s series-opening win against the Cubs.
On Sunday, a misplay by Cubs left fielder Ian Happ extended the fourth inning for Turang to add another. His two-out line drive off Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks found the first row of the bleachers in right field and gave the Brewers a 7-1 lead.
Talk about making the most of baserunners. From Turang’s slam in San Diego through his slam on Sunday, the Brewers were 5-for-7 with the bases loaded -- and all five hits were grand slams.
“We’re just out there competing, having great at-bats and catching [grand slams],” said Turang, who has hit three of his 12 career home runs with the bases full. “It’s fun, man.”
It’s not so fun for the pitchers.
“They obviously had a good plan against me, sitting on some of the right pitches and got them,” Hendricks said. “But regardless, even if they're sitting on a pitch and they get it, it was still up in the middle. It doesn't matter whether you're sitting on that or not, it's just easier to put a good swing on that."
Turang had a chance for more fun in the eighth when he batted again with the bases loaded against Cubs reliever Ethan Roberts. This time, Turang was called out on strikes.
Still, he’s a big part of an unprecedented stretch in Brewers history.
They’ve hit more grand slams in the past eight games alone than in 38 of the first 55 seasons of Brewers franchise history. The 1982 Brewers, for example, led the Majors with 216 home runs but hit only two grand slams. The postseason-bound Brewers teams in 2008 and ‘11, with Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder hitting in the middle of the order, hit one grand slam apiece.
Before the past nine days, the Brewers had never hit more than three grand slams in any calendar month, and the last time they hit multiple grand slams on a single homestand was June 2007, when Bill Hall went deep against the Giants and Johnny Estrada against the D-backs. To find three grand slams on a single homestand, you have to go all the way back to 1980, when Sixto Lezcano beat the Red Sox with a walk-off grand slam on Opening Day at County Stadium, and Cecil Cooper and Don Money each hit grand slams in the second game of the season.
But four grand slams on a single homestand?
That had never happened before Turang stepped up to the plate on Sunday.
“I got emotional in that moment. I said a word I’m not allowed to say here,” said Brewers starter Freddy Peralta, who surrendered two hits in the first inning including Nico Hoerner’s leadoff home run, then yielded no more hits through the seventh. “I was talking about it with some of the guys in the dugout. We’ve been doing a lot of the little things [on offense]. … When you do that, everyone on the team sees everything different. There’s no pressure around.”
It almost makes Peralta want to pick up a bat again.
Almost.
“Sometimes I have that feeling,” he said, “but it’s no good for me.”
He’s needed on the mound, anyway. As the month of July begins, the Brewers are one of six Major League teams with at least 50 victories in the bank. They are there thanks largely to going 27-13 at home -- a .675 win percentage that ranks third best in baseball. The Brewers haven’t lost a series at home since dropping two of three to the Yankees at the end of April.
“There’s a lot to be pleased about, but there’s a mountain to climb,” Murphy said. “We’ve got half a season left and we have to improve in just about every way you can.”