Eric Thames trying to ride the wave
CHICAGO - Eric Thames did it yet again.
The Milwaukee Brewers' new first baseman took John Lackey deep to lead off the third inning of an eventual 6-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Monday night, giving him home runs in five consecutive games, six over that same span (he hit a pair Saturday) and seven in 12 games overall.
It's a story that's caught on nationally, as Thames spent part of Monday afternoon doing a lengthy interview on MLB Network, and two national columnists were also on hand to chronicle his first two weeks back in the major leagues.
And on cue, he delivered just what everyone wanted to see.
"That’s how baseball is. Guys get in zones sometimes," Thames said. "It’s like I tell the guys all the time, it’s a wave and you’ve just got to ride the wave and enjoy it because there’s always dark times around the corner.
"You’ve just got to take it in stride, play in the present and go from there."
BOX SCORE: Brewers 6, Cubs 3
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Thames sits atop the leader board now with those seven homers, and he's hitting .405 to boot. He was one of three Brewers to homer on Monday, with all three coming to left or left-center and into a stiff, cold breeze as Milwaukee handed Chicago its fourth consecutive loss.
Thames doubled off Lackey two batters into the game, and Ryan Braun followed with a two-run shot to give Chase Anderson a quick 2-0 lead. After the Cubs cut it to 2-1, Jett Bandy homered to make it 3-1.
Albert Almora Jr.'s two-run double off Anderson tied it at 3-3 in the bottom of the second, only to have Thames follow by lifting an opposite-field shot just over the wall to give the Brewers a lead they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the night.
"Tonight, 3-2 (count), Lackey was throwing everything but the kitchen sink at me so I’m trying to protect or walk for Brauny, then all of a sudden the ball just jumped off my bat," Thames recounted. "I hit it and I was like, ‘The wind is blowing in to left – maybe a double.’ Then the ball just kept going. That was crazy.
"I looked at the scoreboard and was like, ‘What?’"
Thames wasn't sure if he'd ever homered in as many as five games while tearing it up in Korea the previous three seasons, although he thought maybe he'd once homered in six straight. Whatever the case, he's now cemented his place in Milwaukee's recordbook by joining Jeromy Burnitz as the only two Brewers players to have hit round-trippers in five consecutive games.
After grounding out in his third at-bat, Thames singled in the eighth off left-hander Mike Montgomery and scored on a double by Braun to give the Brewers' bullpen a couple insurance runs. Putting together a quality at-bat against a tough lefty like Montgomery was on par with the homer off Lackey in Thames' eyes.
"Yeah, because his cutter’s nasty," he said. "I was thinking out of his hand, ‘OK, fastball,’ and then that late life, it darted out at the end. I was going to wait on it and if he blows me up, he blows me up but I’m going to sit back and wait. And he threw a breaking ball of some sort.
"So I love that."
Thames went on to recount a strikeout he had over the weekend against Cincinnati lefty Wandy Peralta.
"I struck out on a 3-2 slider in the dirt. I knew it was a ball but I was so out of my head and so mad about that because my biggest goal is to swing at strikes," he said. "The player I was before (in the majors), I was a free swinger – strikeout, strikeout. Now I feel like I mean nothing to the team unless I swing at strikes.
"I know I’ll be playing a little more against lefties so I’ll have to bear down on that; I haven’t faced them much in the last few weeks. So it’ll be a lot of mental training.
"But I’m excited."
So are the Brewers, who are loving his 1.000 slugging percentage and 1.479 OPS anchoring a lineup that includes a hot-swinging Braun as well as power threats like Travis Shaw and Domingo Santana.
"It’s as good as I’ve ever seen anybody be at baseball for a two-week period," Braun said. "He’s been incredibly consistent. He makes adjustments incredibly quickly. The last at-bat he had against Montgomery – I think Montgomery is really good. He has nasty stuff, especially against a lefty. You saw him swing through a couple cutters, and just quickly make an adjustment to stay on the ball.
"The at-bat he hit a homer against Lackey, I feel like Lackey made a bunch of quality pitches. He has been incredible. Righties, lefties, starters, relievers, pulling the ball, hitting the ball the other way.
"He’s been incredible.”
Braun was asked about former teammate Prince Fielder, who spent several years protecting him in the lineup. Now, Braun believes Thames could be the guy who helps him see better pitches. His .289/5/11/1.074 OPS is a good start.
"Usually, teams game plan for a hitter. For the first time in a while, it feels like we have two of those guys," he said. "For a long time, I had the luxury of having Prince when Prince was the guy. It obviously really helped me, because there’s always the one guy I think that everybody focuses on and says, ‘We don’t want this guy to beat [us].’ Then obviously I’ve been that guy for a long time.
"So to have another guy, I think it benefits both of us."
Added manager Craig Counsell: "What he’s doing is really hard to do. He’s on a good streak right now, there’s no question. But seeing it, it bodes well for the rest of the year, for sure.
"Guys just don’t do this. They just don’t show up and do this without being able to do a lot more and be consistent and have very productive seasons, and he’s on his way to that."
Thames spoke again Monday night about how much of spring training was a learning experience for him, as he attempted to adjust to the improved velocity and stuff he was seeing on a daily basis. The at-bats helped, as did video.
But at 30 years old and having been through struggles before, he's fully aware that his current hot streak isn't going to last forever.
So Thames will keep riding that wave.
"I feel like I’m doing a good job," he said. "That’s baseball – the cat and mouse game. I’m sure the pitchers will make adjustments to me as I will to them. That’s just how it is. I’m going well right now, but we’ll see how it is next game, next week.
"You never know – baseball’s full of ups and downs."