MILWAUKEE BREWERS

After couple of quiet games at plate in NLCS, Christian Yelich due to break loose for Brewers

Tom Haudricourt
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

LOS ANGELES – Christian Yelich vs. Kenley Jansen.

Who else would Milwaukee Brewers fans want up in the ninth inning of Game 2 on Saturday at Miller Park than Yelich, the almost sure-fire National League most valuable player? With Hernan Perez on second base as the potential tying run with two outs, Yelich stepped to the plate against the Los Angeles Dodgers star closer.

Working Yelich exclusively up and in with cutters, Jansen jammed him with his fourth pitch, breaking his bat and inducing a weak grounder to third baseman Justin Turner. That’s how Game 2 ended, with the Dodgers taking a 4-3 victory and tying the series, 1-1, before heading home for the next three games.

Thus ended a couple of frustrating games at the plate for Yelich, who went 1 for 8 with two walks, three strikeouts, a double play grounder and .425 OPS. The three strikeouts and GIDP all came in Game 1.

“I’ve had opportunities; I just haven’t come through,” Yelich said in the Brewers’ quiet clubhouse after Game 2. “We gave ourselves a chance. We had a chance there in the ninth inning and we came close in the eighth as well.

“That’s all you can do – give yourself an opportunity. It didn’t work out for us. They made the pitches when they had to. They did a good job.”

Of the 12-game winning streak that came to an end in disappointing fashion after the bullpen blew a 3-0 lead in the late going, Yelich said, “It’s all about today, the present, the game you have in front of you. It’s cool we won all those games in the past but they honestly mean nothing to us (now). We need to regroup.”

Because his players have been grinding hard, producing 12 consecutive victories before the Game 2 loss, manager Craig Counsell gave them the option of taking the rest of the day off Sunday after the team arrived here on the travel day.

The only position player on the NLCS roster to take batting practice at Dodger Stadium in preparation for Game 3 on Monday was extra outfielder Curtis Granderson, who was working on some things with hitting coach Darnell Coles.

After the games played here, Yelich will get to sleep in his own bed at his home in Malibu, as will Ryan Braun and Mike Moustakas, who also live in that posh oceanside community.

“Look, I think they’ve pitched (Yelich) well,” Counsell said. “But I’m not seeing anything different (in Yelich’s at-bats). You’re seeing kind of the same attack plan. If anything, what you’ve seen is just more foul balls. So, the couple of pitches he may have got to hit, he’s fouled them off.

“In games like this against pitchers like this, you don’t expect to get a ton of pitches to hit. So, sometimes the foul ball is the pitch you had to hit, and then it’s kind of you get into battle mode a little bit.”

Yelich didn’t get many chances to make a difference in the NLDS three-game sweep of Colorado but that was mostly because the Rockies opted not to pitch to him. He batted only .250 (2 for 8) but walked six times, resulting in a .571 on-base percentage and 1.196 OPS. Yelich homered, drove in two runs and scored four times, so he was a definite factor.

Yelich was due to cool off a bit, mainly because no one can stay as insanely hot as he was in the final weeks of the season. In 27 games in September, he batted .370 with a .508 OBP, ridiculous .804 slugging percentage, 10 home runs and 34 runs batted in.

That scorching finish capped a second half for the ages for Yelich: In 65 games after homering in the All-Star Game, he batted .367 with a .449 OBP, .770 slugging, 1.219 OPS, 25 home runs and 67 RBI. The home-run total was four more than Yelich ever had hit in an entire season in the majors.

Yelich led the NL with a .326 average, becoming the Brewers’ first batting champion, .598 slugging, 1.000 OPS, 343 total bases and 164 OPS+, while slugging 36 home runs and 110 RBI. He made a late run for the Triple Crown before falling just short in those latter two categories.

All of which is why Yelich heard chants of “MVP! MVP!” each time he has stepped to the plate in the postseason. It won’t get any easier in Game 3 when the Dodgers send impressive rookie Walker Buehler (8-5, 2.62 in 24 games) to the mound but Counsell said he wouldn’t bet against Yelich making an impact at some point.

“I’m confident we’re going to see a big hit from Christian in the next couple of days,” Counsell said.