MILWAUKEE -- Christian Yelich did it again, and this time it was for big league history.
Yelich became the sixth player in Major League history to hit a home run in each of his team’s first four games when he went deep against the Cardinals’ Michael Wacha in the first inning of Sunday’s series finale at Miller Park. Yelich later delivered a two-run, walk-off double in the ninth inning to give the Brewers a 5-4, come-from-behind win.
No player in MLB history has ever homered in each of his club's first five games. On Monday, Milwaukee visits the Reds, against whom Yelich batted .482 with seven homers last season.
True to form, Yelich was ho-hum about the whole thing.
“I’m just trying to be present in the day, no matter if it goes good or bad the night before,” Yelich said. “Just reset and stay disciplined in your cage work routine or BP. Just focus on each day.”
It marked the second straight day that Yelich homered in his first at-bat. It was a no-doubter; the baseball left Yelich’s bat at 106.7 mph, according to Statcast, and sailed a projected 408 feet to the second deck in right field.
“Did you see where that pitch was?” asked Travis Shaw, who joined his teammates in giving Yelich the silent treatment when he returned to the dugout.
Wacha’s fastball was way above the strike zone. Statcast says the baseball was 3.88 feet off the ground, making it the highest pitch Yelich has hit for a homer since tracking started in 2015.
"He’s making hard stuff look pretty easy,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.
“I don't really want to tell you how I want to attack him, but that first at-bat against him, I felt like he just ambushed a fastball, got the better of me,” Wacha said.
The other players to homer in each of his team’s first four games were Willie Mays for the Giants in 1971, Mark McGwire for the Cardinals in 1998, Nelson Cruz for the Rangers in 2011, Chris Davis for the Orioles in 2013 and Trevor Story for the Rockies in 2016.