There may be tougher times ahead, but for now, the Milwaukee Brewers should revel in the dose of irony delivered by center fielder Blake Perkins in yesterday’s win in Washington. Hours before the game, fans got the bad news that not only is slugger Jackson Chourio injured, he could be out for quite some time. On top of that, the Brewers’ lackluster trade deadline had more than a few supporters upset. Enter Perkins, new-found blaster of longballs.
Milwaukee Brewers lineup gets more unexpected magic, this time from Perkins
Perkins only just returned to the team post-All-Star break after missing the whole first half due to an injury in spring training. Never a power hitter, he had 10 homeruns to his name in 199 career games entering Friday’s contest, and none this season in 26 at bats.
Hitting seventh in the order, Perkins launched his first bomb in at bat number one, off Nationals starter Parker Mitchell. In the fifth inning, his second chased Mitchell from the game.
While he’d swung a solid stick in his limited sample of plate appearances, no one expected Perkins to lead the attack. The fact that he did so the day after the deadline and Chourio’s injury update is impossibly ironic.
At this point, everyone should expect the Brewers to deliver the unexpected. Who else erupted for yet another homerun? That’s right, Andrew “Bonds” Vaughn himself, now slugging .772 in 17 games in Milwaukee.
That said, Chourio’s status looms like a somber cloud over the offense moving forward. First basemen Rhys Hoskins and Jake Bauers won’t be back until late this month at best. The already scrappy lineup is at risk of running completely out of charge in the power department.
Or maybe it won’t. The Brewers just hung 25 hits and 16 runs on the Nationals: yes, it’s the Nationals, but still. Maybe, if it comes to that, a power outage won’t even slow them down. 21 of Friday’s hits didn’t leave the park and accounted for nine separate runs.
Milwaukee faced justified skepticism for not acquiring a bat before 5 PM CT on July 31, but the sole position player they did add, outfielder Brandon Lockridge, had himself a 2-6 day in the leadoff spot (plus a walk and a steal).
Joey Ortiz, the roster’s weakest regular, went 3-6 with a pair of RBIs.
The Brewers will encounter adversity ahead if their power deficiency ever catches up with them, but right now their winning formula isn’t showing any signs of fizzling.
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