Brewers 1982

Covering the Milwaukee Brewers throughout the 1982 season, in real-time, as it would have happpened.

Tony Perez

Brewers Rewriting Record Book, One Game Back

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Brewers 14, Red Sox 5
Brewers now 43-32 (2nd)
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Robin Yount
Robin Yount had five hits today, leading a dominant offensive attack.

MILWAUKEE — In the opening game of the most important series of the season so far against the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox, the Milwaukee Brewers came up big in every way to pull to within a game.

It seems like we’ve had this discussion before. We’ve recapped games with gaudy offensive stats. We’ve gushed over the home runs and full team dominance. It happened again today. But this time, it just happens to coincide with a tone-setting game.

Shall we rattle off all of the impressive numbers from this game? Alright, try to keep up:

  • Robin Yount went 5-for-5 with a double, three runs scored and an RBI.
  • Gorman Thomas went 2-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI. He now leads the AL with 21 home runs on the season.
  • Cecil Cooper (17) and Ted Simmons (11) also hit home runs, giving the Brewers four on the game. Cooper’s home run was a grand slam in the seventh.
  • The four homers give the Brewers 31 in their last 14 games, breaking the record of 29 set by the 1961 Yankees.
  • Every Brewers starter had at least one hit. Four (Paul Molitor, Yount, Simmons, Thomas) had at least two hits.
  • The Brewers were 6-for-12 (.500) with runners in scoring position.
  • The Brewers have now won 13 of their last 16 games.

It’s downright silly. These weren’t the lowly Minnesota Twins that the Brewers embarrassed today. They were the Boston Red Sox, owners of the best record in the American League.

And it’s not just this game, but the Brewers have beaten the Red Sox in four of five games this season, averaging 9.6 runs per contest.

Silly.

“I’ve never seen this kind of hitting for this long of a time in my entire career in baseball,” said manager Harvey Kuenn. And he’s seen a lot of baseball, and a lot of hitting.

Oh, and the Brewers actually got some decent pitching. Bob McClure threw a complete game to improve to 7-2 on the season. Asked if he had a goal to win 15 or 20 games this season, McClure’s response was simple.

“Really, my only goal is to help a winning cause and get us into the playoffs and the World Series,” McClure said, simply.

Damn, right, Bob. Damn right.

Game Notes: Bob McClure hasn’t lost since May 26. … Tony Perez singled in the fifth inning for his 2,500th career hit.

Harvey’s Wallbangers 1, Green Monster 0

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Brewers 9, Red Sox 3
Brewers now 38-30 (2nd)
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Green Monster
The Brewers won their first showdown with the Red Sox and the Green Monster of Fenway Park.

BOSTON — This four-game series pits first against second in the American League East. Most importantly, it’s billed as Harvey’s Wallbangers vs. The Wall, the famed Green Monster of Fenway. After one game, the wall took a beating. As did the Red Sox.

The Brewers scored nine runs on 16 hits, several of which went either into or over the Green Monster. While the Monster gets all of the attention, the Brewers made sure to spray the ball around the field. The action started in the first inning when Cecil Cooper, who complained of blurred vision due to a migraine, clanged a two-run homer off of the right field foul pole.

Gorman Thomas‘ two-run homer over the Monster in the sixth gave the Brewers the lead for good, and the Crew tacked on four more runs in the seventh on six singles for good measure, one of which was a Ben Oglivie smash off of the big wall.

But the key moment in this game may not have involved the wall or the Brewers’ bats. The Red Sox opened the fifth with three consecutive singles, scoring a run to pull to within one of the Brewers. Jim Slaton relieved Randy Lerch and walked Tony Perez on five pitches to load the bases. He then disposed of Dave Stapleton, Glenn Hoffman and Carl Yastrzemski on consecutive infield pop-ups to get out of the jam.

While that may have been the turning point, it was also the story of the game for the Red Sox. Boston’s mashers reached on 15 hits, but 13 were for singles. When it counted, they failed, going 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position and leaving 13 runners on base overall.

While Boston may have come into this game as the favorite, they certainly played the role of the underdog. And the Brewers simply pounded away.

One down, three to go. The Brewers are now to within four games.

Game Notes: The Brewers are now 15-6 under manager Harvey Kuenn … Jim Gantner‘s sore shoulder is still bothering him, and he may go on the DL. He could not throw without pain, so Ed Romero started in his place at second and had two hits while playing flawless defense … The Red Sox placed third baseman Carney Lansford on the DL with torn ankle ligaments and called up Ed Jurak from Pawtucket.