There has been no stopping 'Craig's Crushers'
They don’t ask how. They only ask how many.
Home runs are how the Milwaukee Brewers are scoring now. They hit three more Thursday night to account for all of their runs in a 7-5 victory over St. Louis at Miller Park.
The Brewers have 32 home runs in 17 games, easily the most in the majors. There were no expectations that this would be a huge power team and there’s still a lot of the season left but this has been an impressive collective flexing of muscles.
“Guys are just trying to have quality at-bats and hit something hard. If it goes out of the ballpark, that’s great,” said catcher Jett Bandy, who chipped in with his fourth blast of the season.
“We have the power to do it. It’s too early to tell but if we keep having quality at-bats throughout the lineup, anything can happen.”
GAME STORY: Home runs the key again
NOTES: Thames returns home the toast of baseball
BOX SCORE: Brewers 7, Cardinals 5
PODCAST: Thames off to incredible start
Neither Travis Shaw nor Eric Thames had faced St. Louis flamethrower Carlos Martinez previously, and as they say, ignorance is bliss. Shaw hit a monster three-run blast off the facing of the third deck in the first inning and Thames added an opposite-field, two-run shot in the fifth.
“That was probably No. 1 or 2 of the best balls I’ve ever hit,” Shaw said of the changeup he drove 458 feet. “I’ll take it.”
Thames made a name for himself by hitting home runs in five consecutive games on the road but didn’t want Brewers fans to feel cheated. His 417-foot shot to left-center off a 0-1 fastball from Martinez was his eighth of the season but only his second at Miller Park.
“I was just trying to react,” Thames said. “Carlos Martinez is nasty. He has a good fastball, good changeup, real good slider. I was just looking for something to hit.
“I have no idea what’s going on. When you’re on a streak like this, your mind is kind of on autopilot. You’re just trying to react. I’m trying to take it one game at a time.”
It would be different if it was only Thames going out of his mind and everybody else watching. But the Brewers are getting home runs from a variety of players in putting together a 12-game streak with at least one going out.
The Brewers have hit two home runs or more in a franchise-best six consecutive games. They’ve already hit three or more in a game six times.
“They’re coming like that now,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We’ll take them. We’re getting in spots where we’re getting a pitch to drive, and right now, the guys are driving it.
“It’s putting your ‘A’ swing on a mistake (pitch) and we’re doing a good job of that.”
As for the A-plus swing that Shaw put on Martinez, Counsell said, “That’s the first one I’ve seen (go there) in a while. The left-handed power of guys we’ve had here since Prince (Fielder), Adam Lind is the only one that comes to mind.
“The first day we were here and Travis took BP, he saw some balls go places he hadn’t seen in a while.”
Fans familiar with Brewers history know about the slugging teams known as “Harvey’s Wallbangers” and “Bambi’s Bombers.” If this keeps up, might the 2017 edition be known as “Craig’s Crushers?”
“That would be nice,” Thames said. “I like that. I’m on board.”