CINCINNATI \u2014 Christian Yelich wasn\u2019t quite sure if he should use the special Bob Uecker bat that he got for last year\u2019s Players\u2019 Weekend in Friday\u2019s game against the Cincinnati Reds.<\/p>\n
Yelich had season-ending back surgery before he could use the baby blue Louisville Slugger with a yellow handle a year ago. On the barrel was a design featuring a picture of the Hall of Fame announcer, his name, his home run call, his \u201cJuuuust a bit outside\u201d line from the movie \u201cMajor League,\u201d a Brewers logo and: \u201cA True Milwaukee Legend.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019d been able to give one to Uecker last year and wasn\u2019t sure if it was right to use it following Uecker\u2019s passing this past offseason.<\/p>\n
He asked Brewers equipment manager Jason Shawger what he thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, you have to,\u201d Yelich recalled Shawger telling him. \u201cYou have to do it at least once.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leading off the second inning, Yelich hit his 24th home run of the season with the bat. By the time the night was done, he had collected three more hits, including a go-ahead home run and five RBIs as the Brewers erased a seven-run deficit to beat the Cincinnati Reds 10-8 and tie the franchise record with their 13th straight win.<\/p>\n
\ufeff<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat can you say about Yelich?\u201d Brewers manager Pat Murphy said afterward.<\/p>\n
Murphy, as is his wont, then said plenty about the 33-year-old former MVP.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me on the bench, straight up, it was 8-1, he said, \u2018We\u2019re going to win this game,\u2019\u201d Murphy said. \u201cHow do you make that statement? He looked at me and said, \u2018We\u2019re going to win this game.\u2019 And then \u2026 it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
As unbelievable as it sounds, it did.<\/p>\n
The Brewers, playing their first game in a stretch of 19 in 18 days, had All-Star rookie Jacob Misiorowski back on the mound for the first time this month after his time on the injured list with a left tibia contusion after being hit by a comebacker on June 28.<\/p>\n
Misiorowski gave up a run in the first and was helped by center fielder Steward Berroa, in his first game with the Brewers and just the 29th big-league game of his career, when Berroa threw out the Reds\u2019 Miguel Andujar at the plate to end the first. In the second, Misiorowski struck out the first batter he faced before hitting Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson and then walking the next three batters, forcing in a run and bringing Murphy out to the mound to end his night.<\/p>\n
Left-handed reliever DL Hall came into the game and gave up a two-run double to Elly De La Cruz, followed by four straight singles. By the time the second inning was done, the Reds led 8-1.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Yelich told not just Murphy, but everyone else within earshot that the team would win.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never want to go out there and give up a five spot,\u201d Hall said after allowing all three inherited runners to score plus three more of his own. \u201cBut as soon as I\u2019m in the dugout, Yeli\u2019s letting me know, \u2018We\u2019re going to win this game. Don\u2019t worry, we\u2019re going to score runs. Just keep them right there.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The Reds wouldn\u2019t have another base runner after scoring their eighth run of the game, as six Brewers relievers, beginning with Hall, retired the final 23 Reds of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just like the guys believe and they\u2019re a great group and they play together, they don\u2019t get too down when things don\u2019t go their way,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cIt\u2019s the \u2018next man up\u2019 mentality. Nobody on the team knows the Berroa kid, and he came and threw a guy out at the plate in the first inning, and (Brandon) Lockridge got three hits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lockridge was acquired in the trade deadline deal that sent lefty Nestor Cortes to the San Diego Padres. His first game was on Aug. 1, the same day the Brewers put center fielder Jackson Chourio on the injured list. Lockridge had two hits in his first appearance. In his two weeks with the team, he has yet to experience a loss. So it was easy for him to believe Yelich\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the little bit I\u2019ve been here, the way every game has gone, for the most part, it feels like we\u2019re scoring double-digit runs every game,\u201d Lockridge said. \u201cYou just keep your head down and play our game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lockridge, batting ninth, came to the plate in the third inning, down by seven, to face Reds starter Nick Martinez. Lockridge singled up the middle, turning the lineup over. After a Sal Frelick single and a popup by Joey Ortiz, catcher William Contreras beat out a double-play ball, keeping the inning alive.<\/p>\n
That brought up Yelich.<\/p>\n
After the home run, Yelich said he thought about using a different bat. Again, he consulted Shawger.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright, should we just be done with it?\u201d Yelich said to Shawger. \u201cOne and done? That\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNaw,\u201d Shawger told him. \u201cYou have to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yelich swung at the first pitch he saw from Martinez and hit it off the handle of the bat, blooping into shallow left field, where it eluded a diving De La Cruz and went off the glove of third baseman Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes, scoring a run as Yelich hustled into second.<\/p>\n
When Yelich got to the dugout, Shawger was there to greet him, saying, \u201cUeck would have liked that one better.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was right,\u201d Yelich said. We just kept using (the bat), and it ended up being part of a special night \u2014 which, obviously figures. When you\u2019re talking about (Uecker), you don\u2019t put anything out of the question.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next batter, Andrew Vaughn, who was traded from the White Sox in June and called up from Triple-A Nashville last month when Rhys Hoskins went on the IL, homered, making it 8-5. The Brewers would add another run and go from trailing by seven runs to a much more manageable two runs just a half-inning later.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the way our team is, I knew we weren\u2019t going to get our doors blown off,\u201d Yelich said. \u201cI knew we were going to find a way to get back into that thing. We\u2019ve just got a room full of fighters, guys who don\u2019t care what the scoreboard says. We\u2019re down to play whenever, wherever and however.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yelich came up again in the fourth after Reds second baseman Gavin Lux booted a sure inning-ending double-play ball and tied the game with a single down the third-base line.<\/p>\n
With one out in the sixth and the score still tied, Yelich came to the plate needing just a triple for his fourth career cycle, all against the Reds, and his third at Great American Ball Park. Instead, Yelich hit his 25th home run of the season, giving Milwaukee the lead.<\/p>\n
\nChristian Yelich used a bat honoring the late Bob Uecker in Friday\u2019s win over the Reds. He had 4 hits, 2 HR and 5 RBI. You can see \u201cRawlings\u201d and Manfred\u2019s signature where he hit his first homer.<\/p>\n
[image or embed]<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 C Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent.bsky.social<\/a>) August 15, 2025 at 8:10 PM<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
It was fitting that Uecker was part of this home run, the one that tied the 1987 team\u2019s franchise record for consecutive wins. It was during the 12th win of the first streak, on Easter Sunday, that Dale Sveum hit a walk-off home run \u2014 with the signature, \u201cGet up, get up and get out of here \u2026 Gone!\u201d call by Uecker.<\/p>\n
Even though Uecker died in January, the Brewers feel like he is still with them, especially Friday night. Murphy has pictures of Uecker in his office. He\u2019s still talked about with just about every emotion: sadness, reverence and above all else, laughter.<\/p>\n
Murphy said when the season began, he talked about loss. The loss of shortstop Willy Adames, who signed with the San Francisco Giants in free agency, and the loss of closer Devin Williams, who was traded to the New York Yankees in December. He even talked about the loss to the New York Mets in last year\u2019s Wild Card Series on Pete Alonso\u2019s home run.<\/p>\n
And finally, Murphy addressed the loss of Uecker, the Milwaukee native who signed with the Milwaukee Braves in 1956 and debuted with the team in 1962. After retiring from playing, he started calling Brewers games on the radio in 1971. He was given the nickname \u201cMr. Baseball\u201d by talk show host Johnny Carson. Uecker\u2019s fame transcended both Milwaukee and baseball, but nowhere was he more beloved than in his home city. And as much as he was loved by the city, he was loved by everyone in the Brewers\u2019 organization even more.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just have to convince ourselves that he\u2019s with us. I think it\u2019s true,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cHeroes will be remembered and legends never die. Somehow, it seems like he\u2019s watching over us. I said he\u2019s not going to miss a game. He definitely was here tonight. Yeli proved it.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the game, Yelich showed off the bat, pointing at the scuffs on it. Near the barrel, the remnants of the Rawlings logo on the ball and commissioner Rob Manfred\u2019s signature were there from his first home run. Lower, near the handle, was the ink from the MLB logo transferred from the ball to the bat on his bloop double.<\/p>\n
Saturday, as the Brewers go for a franchise record 14th straight victory, he\u2019ll have to decide whether to use the bat one more time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. I\u2019ll talk to Shawger about it and see what we want to do,\u201d Yelich said. \u201cTBD. I\u2019ll let you know tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Photo: Kareem Elgazzar \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CINCINNATI \u2014 Christian Yelich wasn\u2019t quite sure if he should use the special Bob Uecker bat that he…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":151403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[5048,4247,1266,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-151402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-cincinnati-reds","9":"tag-milwaukee-brewers","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115040405746271932","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}