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The Brew Haus - Hall's Two Homers Spark Crew
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The Milwaukee Brewers were expected to score a lot of runs this year, and they're certainly living up to expectations thus far.
Bill Hall hit two home runs and drove in a career-high six runs, while Prince Fielder added three more RBIs as the Brewers beat the San Francisco Giants, 13-4, in the home opener.
Hall's first homer, a two-run shot in the first inning off of Giants' starter Jonathan Sanchez, came two batters after Fielder's first RBI single and gave Milwaukee starter Carlos Villanueva a quick 3-0 lead.
In the fifth, the Brewers got to Sanchez again. Jason Kendall led off with a single and Rickie Weeks walked before Gabe Kapler plated Kendall with a single. Fielder followed with his second RBI single of the game, chasing Sanchez from the game. After a flyout by Ryan Braun, Hall took a 1-1 curveball from Keiichi Yabu deep into the left field bleachers, giving the Crew an 8-0 lead.
The Giants finally got to Villanueva in the sixth for two runs, but the Brewers again responded in the bottom of the inning. Pinch hitter Gabe Gross led off with a walk and was driven in on a double by Kendall. Weeks followed with an infield single before Kapler drove Kendall in with another single. Fielder bounced a double off the bottom of the right field wall, plating Weeks and Hall followed two batters later with an RBI single to give the Brewers a 13-2 lead.
Bengie Molina added the Giants' final runs on a two-run homer off of Salomon Torres in the seventh.
Villanueva went 5 1/3 strong innings, striking out a career-high six but battled after the 90-pitch mark. Torres got his first save of the season by pitching the final three innings.
I said in my season preview that the key to a successful season lies with the production of Hall, and he proved this today. Hall's big day was even more important due to the fact that Ryan Braun went 0-for-5 immediately ahead of him in the lineup.
Fielder, though he hasn't hit a home run yet and admits his swing is a bit off right now, is hitting .429 in the first four games with six RBIs. Kendall also continued his strong start by going 2-for-2 with a walk. He's now batting .500 in four games with an on-base percentage of .600.
Villanueva's strong outing gave the Brewers three out of four starts of two or fewer runs. Only Dave Bush has given up more.
Weeks scored three runs in the game and tied a modern day National League record by scoring a run in his 17th straight game while also breaking Paul Molitor's team record.
Miscellaneous Notes:
- Brian Shouse made his first appearance of the season in relief and tallied a strikeout.
- Yovani Gallardo will make his first rehab start tonight for Triple-A Nashville. If everything goes as planned he should be back in the bigs by April 15th.
- Elsewhere on the farm, Matt LaPorta announced his presence in Double-A by hitting a grand slam in his debut.
(I promise I will actually write a recap on losses, too.)
