May 11, 2022: Brewers’ Christian Yelich triples into third career cycle in slugfest with Reds

Thirty games into the 2022 season, the Cincinnati Reds were already written off for the season. On May 11, sitting 13½ games out of first place in the National League Central, the Reds came into the Wednesday afternoon finale of a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers with a major-league-worst 6-24 record. From April 12 through May 5, a span of 21 games, Cincinnati had won only once. Further, the Reds became the first team since 1893 “for whom no starting pitcher has gotten through six innings in its first 30 games.”1

The Brewers, on the other hand, were winning games. Even after splitting the first two games of the series in Cincinnati, they had a record of 20-11 and had been atop the NL Central standings since April 26. A week earlier, the Brewers had swept the visiting Reds in three games at Milwaukee’s American Family Field, outscoring them 34-12.

Now, playing in Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park in front of 11,851 fans, the Reds had the opportunity to take a series from the visiting Brewers. Cuban-born Vladimir Gutierrez got the start for the Reds. In his rookie season of 2021, Gutierrez had posted a 9-6 record, with a 4.74 ERA. Against the Brewers in 2021, he was 2-0 with a 2.37 mark, his best against all NL teams.

In 2022, however, the 26-year-old right-hander had lost his first five starts of the season, allowing 21 runs (all earned) in 21⅓ innings pitched. He had started against Milwaukee on May 4 and allowed a career-worst seven runs while recording only 13 outs.

Opposing Gutierrez was Adrian Houser. The 29-year-old was in his sixth season with Milwaukee; he had posted his only winning season in 2021 (10-6) and had won the last three of his five starts to begin the 2022 campaign.

Milwaukee’s Kolten Wong doubled to lead off the game but was caught trying to steal third after Willy Adames struck out. Designated hitter Christian Yelich – hitless in the first two games of the series after scorching the Reds for five hits and a home run in the previous week’s series – also hit a two-bagger,2 but Gutierrez struck out Rowdy Tellez to keep the Brewers off the scoreboard.

The Reds jumped on Houser in the bottom of the first. TJ Friedl led off with a single. An out later, Tommy Pham grounded to third baseman Luis Urias, who made a throwing error trying for the force at second, and both men were safe.

Tyler Stephenson’s two-out double brought home Friedl. Houser walked Colin Moran to load the bases, and Tyler Naquin followed with his first triple of the season. The ball banged off the center-field wall, coming about a foot short of being a grand slam,3 and all three runners scored. Kyle Farmer hit the ball hard but lined out to Adames at short. The Reds were up, 4-0.

Gutierrez threw only 11 pitches in the top of the second, and Cincinnati was soon back in the batter’s boxes. With one out, Friedl bunted down the third-base line. Houser fielded it but had no play. Friedl stole second on the next pitch. Houser walked Brandon Drury and Pham on full counts, loading the bases for the second time in two innings. And for the second time, a Cincinnati batter cleared them, as Stephenson stroked another double deep down the left-field line. The Reds led 7-0 after two innings.

The Brewers rallied in the third. Lorenzo Cain singled and Jace Peterson walked to begin the inning. Gutierrez retired the next two batters, but Yelich crushed a pitch down the left-field line for a three-run home run, his fifth homer of the season. An inning later, Hunter Renfroe cracked a solo home run to right field, and suddenly the Brewers were down by only three runs. Milwaukee loaded the bases in the top of the fifth, but Alex Diaz replaced Gutierrez on the mound and the Brewers did not score.

Hoby Milner relieved Houser in the bottom of the fifth and was greeted by Moran’s double into the left-field corner. Moran moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on Farmer’s sacrifice fly. The score remained 8-4 until the top of the eighth, when Renfroe slugged his second homer of the game, also a solo shot, this time to left. It was again a three-run game.

J.C. Mejia had pitched a scoreless seventh for the Brewers, but in the eighth he lost his control. He walked three of the first four batters, loading the sacks. Pham delivered a two-run single to left and Mike Moustakas followed with a single to center, plating the third Reds run of the inning.

Luis Perdomo was called in from the bullpen, and Stephenson hit into a force at third for the second out. Then Moran hit a three-run homer to deep left, blowing the game wide open. The six-run Cincinnati outburst in the eighth made the score 14-5.

It was seemingly out of reach, but Milwaukee mounted a rally in the ninth inning. With Dauri Moreta on the mound for Cincinnati, Peterson homered and Wong singled to deep center. Mike Brosseau pinch-hit for Adames and also homered to left, making it a 14-8 game.

It was Yelich’s turn to bat. He had already doubled in the first, homered in the third, and singled in the fifth. His teammates were well aware that he needed a three-bagger to complete the cycle. Yelich swung at Moreta’s first offering and lined the ball into the right-field corner. Brosseau was waving his arms in a windmill motion from the dugout, as Yelich “bolted out of the box, sprinting around the bases and cruising into third standing up.”4 His teammates stood on the top row of the dugout to applaud him.

It was Yelich’s first triple of the season. After the game, he told reporters, “I knew as long as I didn’t trip and fall around the bases I would probably get to third.”5

Tellez also jumped on Moreta’s first offering, lining a single to center. Yelich scored his second run of the game. Cincinnati skipper David Bell made a pitching move, replacing Moreta with Joel Kuhnel. Urias swung at Kuhnel’s first offering and lined an RBI double to left. Nobody was out, five Brewers had scored, and the deficit was down to 14-10.

Three pitches later, Renfroe became the first out of the inning when he fanned. Omar Narvaez doubled in Urias, cutting Cincinnati’s lead to 14-11 and putting the tying run on deck.

Kuhnel then retired Cain and Peterson on grounders to second, finally ending the game. The Brewers had sent 10 batters to the plate, scoring six runs, but it was not enough. Houser was tagged with the loss and Diaz got the win, but the dubious streak continued – Cincinnati’s starter did not make it through the fifth inning. Yet the Reds, who had won two of three from the Pittsburgh Pirates before the Brewers’ visit, won their second straight series, this time by “topping the NL Central leaders.”6

The two teams combined for 25 runs scored, banging out 29 hits. This was Cincinnati’s highest run production of 2022 to date, and the second time in the series that they scored at least 10 runs against the Brewers. Of Milwaukee’s 15 hits, 11 went for extra bases. Only five of Cincy’s 14 hits were more than singles, but they combined the hits efficiently, scoring three or more runs in three different innings.

Reds manager Bell told reporters, “Great day offensively. Not only the hits and the RBIs, but just grinding out at-bats, controlling the strike zone, getting guys in base. That created the opportunities.”7

Yelich raised his batting average 25 points and increased his slugging percentage by 71 points.8 He became the sixth player to hit for the cycle three times in his career, following his performances on August 29, 2018, and September 17, 2018, both of which were against the Reds.9 Of the six players in this exclusive category, Yelich, who won the NL batting title in 2018 and 2019 and received NL MVP honors in 2018, is the only one to accomplish the rare feat three times against the same team. His cycle was also the first of five in the 2022 season.10

Yelich accomplished the 10th cycle in Milwaukee franchise history, but it was the first time a Brewers player had hit for the cycle in a loss. “I’d definitely rather win the game,” said Yelich, but then he added, “Any time you can hit for the cycle, it’s pretty cool.”11

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Bill Marston and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com, Retrosheet.org, and SABR.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN202205110.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2022/B05110CIN2022.htm

Video highlights of Yelich’s third cycle can be found at mlb.com/video/yelich-triples-for-the-cycle.

Notes

1 “Another Dubious Distinction for Reds Pitching,” Dayton Daily News, May 12, 2022: C2.

2 The 2022 season was the first, outside of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, in which the designated hitter was used in games between National League teams. This was Yelich’s sixth game as Milwaukee’s designated hitter.

3 Mitch Stacy (Associated Press), “Wobbly Tricycle Ride,” Racine (Wisconsin) Journal Times, May 12, 2022: C1.

4 Stacy, “Wobbly Tricycle Ride.”

5 Adam McCalvy, “Yelich Triples to Become 5th Member of 3-Cycle Club,” MLB.com, at https://www.mlb.com/news/christian-yelich-hits-for-cycle-for-third-time. Accessed February 2023.

6 Mitch Stacy (Associated Press), “Yelich’s Cycle Not Enough,” La Crosse (Wisconsin) Tribune, May 12, 2022: B1.

7 Stacy, “Wobbly Tricycle Ride.”

8 Although he was only 4-for-5 in this contest, Yelich is also just one of 10 players to record six hits and hit for the cycle in the same game. According to Baseball-Almanac.com, 10 players have had six hits in a game and hit for the cycle. They are John Reilly (September 12, 1883), Dave Orr (June 12, 1885), Henry Larkin (July 16, 1885), Larry Twitchell (August 15, 1889), Farmer Weaver (August 12, 1890), Sam Thompson (August 17, 1894), Bobby Veach (September 17, 1920), Rondell White (June 11, 1995), Ian Kinsler (April 15, 2009), and Christian Yelich (August 29, 2018).

9 The five other players with three career cycles are John Reilly (September 12, 1883, September 19, 1883, and August 6, 1890), Bob Meusel (May 7, 1921, July 3, 1922, and July 26, 1928), Babe Herman (May 18, 1931, July 24, 1931, and September 30, 1933), Adrián Beltré (September 1, 2008, August 24, 2012, and August 3, 2015), and Trea Turner (April 25, 2017, July 23, 2019, and June 30, 2021). All three of Reilly’s cycles took place at the Cincinnati Red Stockings’ home ballpark, while all three of Beltré’s cycles took place at the Texas Rangers’ home ballpark.

10 After Yelich, the other batters to hit for the cycle in 2022 were Eduardo Escobar (New York Mets, June 6), Jared Walsh (Los Angeles Angels, June 11), Austin Hays (Baltimore Orioles, June 22), and Nolan Arenado (St. Louis Cardinals, July 1).

11 Stacy, “Wobbly Tricycle Ride.”