Results aside, Christian Yelich was pleased with his first day back in the lineup
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The production certainly wasn't what he had been seeking.
Nevertheless, Christian Yelich still returned to the Milwaukee Brewers' lineup and his balky back felt fine in the aftermath of a frustrating 6-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
Starting for the first time since April 12 he went 0 for 5 while serving as the designated hitter with three groundouts, a popout and a strikeout. That snapped the 23-game on-base streak he'd carried into the game.
But he wasn't alone in his struggles as the Brewers again failed to mount any sort of consistent offensive attack.
They scored their first run two batters into the game, their second on a Gary Sánchez home run in the seventh and their final two in the ninth with walks by Sánchez and Oliver Dunn setting the table for the top of the order.
A Brice Turang double made it 6-3 and a William Contreras groundout made it 6-4.
That brought Yelich to the plate with two outs as the potential tying run and the same pitcher on the mound that surrendered Willy Adames's game-winning homer a night earlier.
There would be no such heroics this time, however, as Yelich tapped meekly back to James McArthur on his first offering to end it.
"Pretty much what I expected," said Yelich of his day overall. He ultimately eschewed the opportunity to log some at-bats in the minor leagues prior to returning, a decision that is usually left to veterans to make on their own.
"Kind of jumped right back in there. Hit a couple balls hard (a 108-mph groundout to shortstop in the third was the second-hardest-hit ball of the game). Some at-bats I didn't like as much as others. Just getting back in the flow. You take that much time off, you're playing catch-up a little bit but I didn't really feel that bad up there.
"It's just building on that."
As for his back?
"I felt fine," he said. "Physically, everything was good."
Manager Pat Murphy gave Yelich a passing grade for his overall day.
"I don't think there's too many people that could come back after 3 ½ weeks and compete that way," Murphy said. "He hit two balls hard on the ground, they brought a lefty in to face him – the kid's had a great season – and he handled that very well (strikeout on six pitches).
"He didn't get the benefit of a couple pitches that seemed like they were maybe balls and called strikes. It won't be long and he'll be in great form."
There were any number of plays that could have, or should have, gone the Brewers' way. But as is usually the case when a team is scuffling – Milwaukee finished this road trip 2-4 – they didn't.
It started with Blake Perkins slipping and falling in center on what should have been a routine out two batters into the game, a miscue that opened the door to a two-run first.
Then there was Oliver Dunn failing to score what would have been the tying run in the seventh, with a bad jump off second base leading to him being thrown out at the plate.
Joel Payamps pitched for just the second time in 13 days in the eighth and after giving up a leadoff homer to Bobby Witt Jr. fell victim to a couple defensive plays that should have been made – one a fly ball that fell in front of Jackson Chourio in left for a single and another that Perkins dove for in center but couldn't glove a batter later.
That made it 6-2, and Payamps was finished.
"Didn't happen for us today," Yelich said. "We didn't play as well as we would have liked. We probably could have played a little bit cleaner game, and when you don't play clean that's the kind of stuff that happens. You can't do that and expect to come out on top.
"They took advantage of the opportunities and the chances. Now, just regroup and we've got a couple divisional series ahead (at home), so we need to play well."
Gary Sánchez plays first base
For the first time in 763 major-league games, Sánchez made a start at a position other than catcher or DH.
It came at first base, with Rhys Hoskins getting the day off and Jake Bauers starting in left.
"I wanted his running speed," Murphy quipped when asked about putting Sánchez at first.
"(Hoskins) was out for a year with a major surgery on his knee. We've got to be mindful of getting Rhys days here and there. He doesn't want to come out of the game ever. He wants to play 162. But that's not practical for a guy coming off that type of surgery.
"He's doing great. I love the guy and he's one of our pillars. But right now, I felt like this was a good day to sit him down. And, we've got Gary swinging the bat great."
Sánchez's homer was his fifth of the season -- tying him for third on the team in only 56 at-bats -- and second of the series. He also has his average up to .232 with an OPS of .891 as he begins to round into form at the plate.
Sánchez didn't look like a fish out of water at first, either, making the requisite plays including a run-saving, diving grab of a shot down the line by Kyle Isbel in the fifth that ultimately helped keep it a 2-1 game at that point.
"He did great," said Murphy. "He's a veteran and he's paid his dues. He's our backup catcher. It's scary, because you can't pinch-run for him. You can do a lot of things, but you can't be without a (second) catcher."
Brice Turang, leadoff man?
There was another career first as Turang made his initial start in the leadoff spot and he responded with three doubles and a walk, drove in a run and scored another.
With Turang's skill set, it would appear as though he could be a good fit there for a longer spell.
"I waited and gave some guys opportunities," said Murphy, who indeed has now tried five players atop the order including Turang. "I'd love for him to be able to do it. That would really set us up nicely with the makeup of our roster if he can ball-strike it, which I think he can.
"That's a nice lineup with those guys."
Turang's three-hit day raised his average to .316, second on the team to only Contreras, and to Murphy's point his 13 walks to 18 strikeouts indicate tremendous progress in that area compared to his rookie season.
"Just taking it pitch by pitch," Turang said. "You only really lead off the first inning. Other than that, just trying to be myself and compete out there, get on base. Get to second and be in RBI position, just like every at-bat.
"Not much changed."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Results aside, Christian Yelich was pleased with his first day back
