MILWAUKEE -- Randy Wolf spent three seasons with the Brewers and never hit a home run across 195 plate appearances.
All he needed was another 14 years and an Alumni Legends Game to change that.
Hours after the current Brewers fell behind early and lost, 5-2, to the Rockies on Friday afternoon at American Family Field, Wolf provided the most unexpected swing of the day. The former pitcher launched a two-run homer over the right-field wall during the three-inning exhibition, powering Team Wisco to a 3-2 victory over Team Milwaukee.
“I played here for three years and hit it all around,” said Wolf. “I have to come back as an old man to hit one, so I can’t believe that.”
Wolf completed his home run trot with the Brewers' iconic bowling ball celebration, which was made famous by Prince Fielder.
Wolf’s improbable blast capped a day designed to connect generations of Brewers. Franchise alumni returned for a weekend that included the dedication of Doug Melvin Way outside the ballpark and Milwaukee’s second-annual alumni event, which shifted from last year’s Home Run Derby to an exhibition game.
The present-day Brewers had a job to handle first. That portion of the afternoon did not go nearly as well.
Milwaukee trailed from the opening inning and never recovered, snapping a stretch in which it had won five of six games since the All-Star break. The Brewers hit plenty of balls hard, including solo homers from Christian Yelich and Brice Turang, but could not put together the sustained rally they needed.
Yelich answered Colorado’s two-run first inning by driving a Statcast-projected 413-foot leadoff homer to left-center field. It was the beginning of an encouraging afternoon for Yelich, who also sent two other balls to the warning track, but the Brewers did not score again until Turang crushed a 434-foot homer off the scoreboard in right-center in the sixth.
That cut the deficit to 4-2, and Milwaukee put its next two batters aboard. But the Rockies escaped the inning, then Colorado restored its three-run advantage in the seventh.
The Brewers made one final push in the ninth when Andrew Vaughn and Jake Bauers opened the inning with consecutive singles against closer Jordan Romano. That brought the potential tying run to the plate with nobody out, but Joey Ortiz popped out, Gary Sánchez struck out and Yelich flied out to end it.
“We hit a few balls hard at key times and came up empty,” manager Pat Murphy said. “That’s just the way it goes. … It’s hard to win a Major League Baseball game. When you face teams like this that are hungry and playing free, you’ve got to play better.”
Shane Drohan surrendered a career-high five runs on six hits, although he again provided length for a rotation that has needed it. The rookie left-hander completed at least six innings for a fourth consecutive start, striking out six before exiting after a leadoff walk in the seventh.
Drohan was not at his sharpest, and he admitted that a softly hit double that fell between defenders in the first inning frustrated him more than it should have. Still, he settled in enough to keep Milwaukee within striking distance.
“I felt like I bounced back pretty well,” Drohan said. “You’ve just got to move on and focus on the next guy.”
Once the final out was recorded, the tone inside the ballpark shifted. Former Brewers representing multiple eras took the field, and current players watched from the dugout as alumni got another taste of the moments they left behind when their careers ended.
Nobody appeared to enjoy his return more than Wolf.
A career .184 hitter who totaled five home runs in 815 plate appearances, Wolf said he did not stretch beforehand and did little more than play catch with Erik Kratz. His goal at the plate was modest: Battle and avoid striking out.
Instead, he delivered the swing of the evening.
“I honestly kind of blacked out,” Wolf said. “I knew it was gone when I hit it, which was cool. But trust me, it’s an understatement to think I was more than surprised.”
The homer barely cleared the wall, but it counted all the same. Team Milwaukee responded with two runs in the top of the third before falling just short, mirroring the ninth-inning rally that had come up empty for the current Brewers a few hours earlier.
For Wolf, though, the result was secondary to the opportunity to reconnect with old teammates, former opponents and players from other eras of Brewers baseball.
“When you’re done playing, you don’t have these moments anymore,” Wolf said. “When you come back and see everybody, you get to hang out and talk about family and what’s going on now. It’s a great time to catch up.”
The Brewers lost the game that counted Friday. Wolf made sure the ballpark still ended the day with something to celebrate.