The 2010 Brewers didn't exactly come roaring out of the gate. In their second season under Ken Macha they stumbled to a 4-7 record in their first eleven games, losing series to the Cardinals and Cubs and getting shut out in Washington by Livan Hernandez. Sometimes all of a sudden, though, things come together. That's what happened on this day that year.
Just 18,789 fans came out on a Sunday afternoon game at Nationals Park to watch the Brewers and Nationals finish off a three game series, and some of them probably left early after the Brewers did this in the top of the first:
Rickie Weeks singled.
Craig Counsell singled.
Ryan Braun singled, Weeks scored.
Prince Fielder was hit by a pitch.
Casey McGehee walked, Counsell scored.
Jim Edmonds was hit by a pitch, Braun scored.
Gregg Zaun singled, Fielder scored.
Carlos Gomez singled, McGehee scored.
Doug Davis hit a sac fly, Edmonds scored.
Rickie Weeks walked.
Craig Counsell hit a grand slam, Zaun, Gomez and Weeks scored.
Counsell's slam drove in the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth runs of the inning, all with one out. By the time the inning ended B-Ref says the Brewers had a 98% chance of winning the game.
The Brewers slowed the pace a bit offensively from there but still won the game 11-7. This was the start of a bit of an offensive awakening for them as they scored ten or more runs six times in an eighteen game stretch, including a 20-0 win over the Pirates and a pair of 17-3 wins over the Pirates and Diamondbacks.
In the grand scheme it didn't matter, of course: The Brewers finished the year in third place with 77 wins.
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:
- 1998 first round pick (#13 overall) J.M. Gold, who turns 32. We covered his birthday in this space last year.
- 2003-06 Brewer Brady Clark, who turns 39.
- 1987 Brewer Alex Madrid, who turns 49.
- 1972 Brewer Chuck Taylor, who turns 70.
- Appleton Baseball Hall of Famer Deacon Jones, who turns 78.