Braun lends brawn to Crew's top HRs of decade

December 27th, 2019

MILWAUKEE -- From Carlos Gómez against the Colorado Rockies on 2010 Opening Day to Yasmani Grandal and Eric Thames against the Washington Nationals in the 2019 National League Wild Card Game, the Milwaukee Brewers hit 1,932 regular season and postseason home runs in the 2010s -- most in the NL for the decade.

Here are our 10 favorites.

1. The clincher
Sept. 23, 2011

When the Brewers clinched their second-ever division title with a 4-1 win over the Marlins on Sept. 23, 2011, it felt like the 2008 finale all over again. In ’08, CC Sabathia allowed one run in nine innings and broke a 1–1 tie with a two-run home run in the eighth before the Brewers watched on the scoreboard as the Marlins beat the Mets to punch Milwau­kee’s postseason ticket. Three years later, Yovani Gallardo allowed one run in 7 1/3 innings and Braun broke a 1–1 tie with a three-run home run in the eighth before the Brewers and their fans watched on the scoreboard as the Cubs beat the Cardinals to punch Milwaukee’s postseason ticket. In the wake of his 2013 suspension, Braun’s accomplishments from the ‘11 season would be viewed in a different light, but it was nevertheless one of the most memorable home runs in the Brewers’ 50-year history.

2. Braun breaks The Kid’s record
Aug. 19, 2015

Twenty-two years to the day after Robin Yount hit the 251st and final home run of his Hall of Fame career, Ryan Braun broke that franchise mark by hitting career homer No. 252 in an 8-7 win over the Marlins at Miller Park. It was a bright spot amid a trying season for the Brewers, who had replaced Ron Roenicke with Craig Counsell earlier in the year and begun a rebuilding project.

"It's about time we got a guy with some real power on the top of that list," Yount said.

3. Braun slams St. Louis
Sept. 15, 2019

It was another record-setter for Ryan Braun, whose go-ahead grand slam in a full count with two outs in the ninth inning at Busch Stadium stunned the Cardinals in a 7-6 win, continued the Brewers’ spree of 18 victories in 20 games, and, as much as any other game in that stretch, was emblematic of the team’s inspired surge to the postseason after it seemed their chances were dashed. That grand slam was the team’s 232nd home run of the season, establishing a new franchise record. Ten days later, Braun hit another huge grand slam in the victory at Cincinnati that clinched a spot in the 2019 postseason.

4. Woodruff takes Kershaw deep
Oct. 12, 2018

Brewers pitchers hit 18 regular season and postseason home runs in the 2010s, and while watching Zack Greinke go deep off Cliff Lee (2012) or Brent Suter off Corey Kluber (2018) was memorable, none were as electrifying as ’s emotionally charged home run off the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 of the 2018 National League Championship Series, a 6-5 Brewers win. Later that night, Woodruff was thinking about his late brother Blake, who died in an ATV accident two years earlier. In his first game back at Double-A Biloxi after the funeral, Brandon pitched a gem and hit a homer.

5. Lucroy vs. Chapman
Aug. 16. 2013

’s first career walk-off homer was a stunner, since it came against Reds closer Aroldis Chapman at the height of the left-hander’s powers. Instead of firing one of his 105 mph fastballs at the Brewers catcher, Chapman hung a slider, and Lucroy deposited it over the left-field fence for a two-run home run and a 7-6 Brewers victory.

6. Fielder’s NLCS shot
Oct. 9, 2011

The saying goes that good teams need their stars to perform like stars in order to find success in the postseason, and that’s what Ryan Braun and did in a back-and-forth Game 1 against the Cardinals in the 2011 NLCS. Braun homered and drove in four runs that night, but the critical hit belonged to Fielder, whose two-run home run gave the Brewers the lead amid a six-run rally in the fifth inning of a 9-6 win.

7. Lucroy gets payback
June 17, 2014

D-backs manager Kirk Gibson was known not to be a fan of Ryan Braun’s dating back to the 2011 NL Division Series, so it raised some eyebrows when Arizona rookie reliever Evan Marshall threw a pitch behind Braun, back from his '13 suspension, with the Brewers down two runs in the seventh inning of a game at Chase Field. After the plate umpire went to the mound for what appeared to be an intense chat with Marshall, the next pitch plunked Braun in the hip to load the bases for Jonathan Lucroy. Marshall was immediately ejected, and Brad Ziegler took over. Lucroy made the D-backs pay by smashing a go-ahead grand slam. Four years later, it was déjà vu when Madison Bumgarner of the Giants plunked Braun under dubious circumstances to load the bases for Jonathan Schoop’s go-ahead grand slam.

8. Arcia, Shaw beat Wade Davis
Sept. 23, 2017

Here’s a two for one. The Brewers’ rebuild under GM David Stearns developed more quickly than anticipated, so this four-game series against the Cubs at Miller Park in the waning days of the 2017 season had a lot of juice. Each of the first three games went extra innings, and after the Brewers lost the first two, they won the third against previously untouchable Cubs closer Wade Davis, who hadn’t blown a save all season. That changed when snuck a tying home run over the left-field wall in the ninth inning that looked rather innocuous off the bat. After the Cubs rallied to take the lead in the top of the 10th inning, the Brewers got to Davis again, winning on ’s two-run home run.

9. Back-to-back to win it
April 3, 2018

In the first contest in Major League history that started and ended with back-to-back home runs, Dexter Fowler and Tommy Pham went deep for the Cardinals within the game's first three pitches, only to be answered by and Ryan Braun with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Yelich, down to his final strike, tied it with his first Brewers home run before Braun smashed the next Dominic Leone pitch into the home bullpen for a stunning 5-4 win.

"I still had my batting gloves on," said Yelich. "I was down below, and I heard him hit it and saw the ball just flying into left-center. There was no way he just did that. What a way to end the game."

10. Maldonado finishes marathon
May 31, 2015

The Brewers matched their franchise record by using nine pitchers and were out of position players when stepped to the plate in the 17th inning to end what was the longest game played by time at Miller Park (5:49). Maldonado's walk-off blast came with one out off Arizona lefty Vidal Nuño, who had been pitching since the 12th inning.

Honorable mentions

April 21, 2018: caps 13-pitch at-bat with walk-off homer vs. Marlins
July 28, 2019: ’s first career walk-off homer beats Craig Kimbrel, Cubs
Sept. 28, 2018: Ryan Braun’s home run off Nicholas Castellanos’ glove rolls over fence