After rare hitless game Sunday for Yelich, his manager thought Reds might be in trouble

After Christian Yelich had his on-base streak of 30 consecutive games snapped the previous day in a 3-2 loss to Pittsburgh, Brewers manager Craig Counsell thought Cincinnati’s pitchers might pay for it Monday evening.

“The impressive thing to me is a team holds him in check yesterday and that seems to be a bad sign the next day for the other team,” Counsell said. “Today before the game, there was an intent that good things are going to happen.”

So, did Yelich have a “face” on in the clubhouse? Was he stomping around, vowing to get revenge for that 0-for?

Actually, nothing that dramatic, said his manager.

“When a team shuts him down the day before, it adds to it for him the next day,” Counsell said. “It’s just competitiveness, that’s all it is.”

For the second time in 20 days, Yelich channeled that competitiveness into hitting for the cycle in the Brewers’ 8-0 romp over the Reds at Miller Park. How rare is it to hit for the cycle twice in one season, you ask?

Well, only four other players in major-league history had done it, and the first two probably rode in horse-drawn wagons to the ballpark – Cincinnati’s Long John Reilly in 1883 and St. Louis’ Tip O’Neill in 1887 (no, not former the Speaker of the House).

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The others were Brooklyn’s Babe Herman in 1931 and Arizona’s Aaron Hill in 2012. Hill pulled off his feat twice within 11 days in August of that season, the second time against the Brewers at Miller Park. No player had done it twice against the same team, however.

And the Reds thought Eric Thames was tough to control.

By the end of the evening, Yelich was up five points in the batting race, tying Cincinnati’s Scooter Gennett (1 for 3) for the NL lead at .318. He also padded his MVP resumé, which has become as thick as a dictionary in his last 27 games, with 13 home runs and 33 runs batted in.

As might be expected, it was all a bit much for the 26-year-old Yelich to process as reporters congregated around his locker afterward.

“I honestly don’t even know how to describe it,” Yelich said. “I don’t even know if it’s set in yet. It’s definitely crazy. I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible. It’s nice to do it at home, too, in front of the home fans. That’s pretty exciting.”

Since the Brewers started playing baseball in Milwaukee in 1970, the home fans had witnessed just one cycle, when catcher Chad Moeller did it on April 27, 2004, also against the Reds. The other seven had come on the road, including Yelich’s first one against Cincinnati on Aug. 29 in a crazy 13-12, 10-inning victory.

Yelich had six hits that night but didn’t have the cycle accomplished until hitting for a triple. He saved that for last in this game as well with a two-run triple in the sixth that capped a four-run rally, then expressed thanks that Curtis Granderson, who can still run at age 37, was ahead of him on the bases, scoring all the way from first base.

As for the historic nature of feat, Yelich said, “Any time you put it in perspective like that, this game has been going on so long, so many players have played it. It’s hard to believe, hard to process. You just try to enjoy it with your teammates, your friends and everybody that’s here and involved.

“There have been so many great players to play this game. That just shows how freaky that is and how rare. A lot of luck goes into that. It’s hard enough to get four hits in a major-league game, let alone have them all be the right ones, or in the right sequence.”

The NL MVP race is certainly wide open at this point, with many deserving candidates such as Chicago’s Javy Baéz, St. Louis’ Matt Carpenter, Colorado’s Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado, and teammate Lorenzo Cain, just to name a few. But Yelich’s career year is getting harder and harder to ignore: .318 batting average, 30 doubles, 31 home runs (his previous high was 21), 93 RBI, .385 OBP, .570 slugging, 19 stolen bases.

Mike Moustakas, acquired by the Brewers from Kansas City on July 27, certainly has been impressed watching Yelich play on a daily basis.

“To hit for the cycle two times in the same year is incredible,” Moustakas said. “The most important thing for him is we’re winning ball games, and that’s what he cares about. But for us, it’s fun to watch what he’s doing every single night.

“He comes ready to play and it’s a lot of fun to be on his team and watch what he’s able to do.”

Once Yelich’s liner hit the gap in right-center in the sixth, Moustakas was asked what it would take to stop him from going for third base.

“I think (third base coach) Eddie (Sedar) stopping (Granderson) at third,” Moustakas said. “I think he still would have gone, though. What he’s doing out there is pretty special watching. We’re lucky to have a front-row seat to it each and every night.”

Told later that Counsell predicted the Reds were in trouble after Yelich’s on-base streak was halted Sunday, the man of the hour smiled and said, “I didn’t approach it any different. It’s just that every game is important for us. Nothing crazy.”

Actually, it was a lot crazy. Recycling is the right thing to do, but you just don’t see it very often in baseball. You could ask Long John Reilly if he were still around.