On this day in 1999, the Brewers and Cubs played the kind of all-out slugfest that only the steroid era and the wind blowing out at Wrigley Field could combine to provide. The Brewers scored two runs in the first, four more in the second, eight in the fourth and four more in the ninth to win the game 19-12.
The Brewers combined for 21 hits and seven walks in the game, including four doubles and four home runs. Mark Loretta (3-for-6 with a walk and four runs), Ronnie Belliard (4-for-5 with two walks, three doubles and three runs scored), Dave Nilsson (4-for-5 with a double, a walk and two runs scored) and Jose Valentin (3-for-4 with two walks and two home runs) each were on base four times or more in the game. The only Brewer starter who didn't get a hit was Jeff Cirillo, who went 0-for-6 and drove in a run anyway.
The win was the Brewers' seventh in nine games, but they were still in last in the NL Central at 36-41.
With help from the B-Ref Pay Index, happy birthday today to 2005 Brewer Nelson Cruz. He turns 31.