The Milwaukee Brewers bounced back from their disastrous 6-3 loss against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night to mash against Shota Imanaga, an early candidate for both National League Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award. Going into the game, Imanaga had an ERA of just 0.84. He left it with an ERA of 1.86, which is still impressive.
Milwaukee was able to do what no team had been able to up to that point: get consistent hard contact off of the Cubs’ young star. They chased him from the game in the fifth inning after scoring seven earned runs on eight eights. Imanaga gave up two home runs, a two-run shot by Christian Yelich in the first inning and a two-run blast by Blake Perkins in the third.
Later in the game, shortstop Willy Adames added a two-run home run off of Cubs’ reliever Kyle Hendricks, giving the Brewers 10 runs. Chicago added two runs in the ninth to make the final score look more respectable: 10-6.
Milwaukee Brewers Centerfielder Blake Perkins Was the Star of the Game
Prior to the start of the 2024 season, many expected Garrett Mitchell to man centerfield for Milwaukee. He looked like he was well on his way to doing so, too, as he was hitting over .300 during Spring Training.
However, a broken finger suffered during batting practice has kept Mitchell out since then. In his place, Perkins was assigned the starting job and his play defensively makes it hard to imagine he will be giving it up any time soon.
Perkins made three amazing catches to rob Cubs hitters of extra bases, including this one in which he robbed Christopher Morel of a home run:
Blake Perkins brings this ball back 😤 pic.twitter.com/0RKB2pqV2t
— MLB (@MLB) May 30, 2024
That catch ended the Cubs’ half of the third. In the bottom of that same inning, Perkins hit his two-run home run.
Later in the game, Perkins made a head-first diving catch on the warning track to rob Ian Happ of extra bases:
The Blake Perkins show continues. 💥 pic.twitter.com/V7yHgE2bDS
— MLB (@MLB) May 30, 2024
These kinds of plays are nothing new for Perkins this year, as he is making an early case to be the National League Gold Glove winner in centerfield.
Milwaukee Brewers Star Christian Yelich Talked About Blake Perkins After the Game
Yelich, as mentioned, hit his own two-run home run in the first inning of the Brewers’ victory. After the game, he was asked about Perkins’ defense:
Christian Yelich jump-started the offense against the previously unhittable Shota Imanaga: pic.twitter.com/83bDvJn02o
— Todd Rosiak (@Todd_Rosiak) May 30, 2024
“Yeah, I mean, he pretty much won the game for us on defense,” Yelich said. Later, he added, “It was probably the best game I’ve ever seen him play, and it was a great time for it.”
Yelich was then asked what makes Perkins such a great defensive outfielder. He responded, “He’s really good at going back on the ball and he tracks the ball really well. He’s comfortable going in every direction really. He gets great jumps, great reads, and he covers a ton of ground out there.”
Smirking, Yelich added, “Some of those ball off the bat, you know, from where I’m standing I’m thinking, ‘That’s going to be a tough play,’ and he tracks them down.”
Yelich knows a thing or two about playing with great centerfielders and playing great defense. He has a Gold Glove himself from his days with the Miami Marlins and spent the first two years of his tenure in Milwaukee playing with Lorenzo Cain.
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