CINCINNATI (AP) — Christian Yelich sat on a chair in front of his locker, trying to take in all that had just happened.
“I’m so tired,” he said.
No wonder. For more than four hours, Yelich led an improbable comeback with an historic effort.
Yelich became the eighth Brewers player to hit for the cycle on Wednesday night and tied the club record with six hits. Jesus Aguilar took it from there, hitting a homer in the 10th inning for a 13-12 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
Then, it was time for everyone to catch their breath.
“I’ve never seen a game like that,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said of Yelich’s 6-for-6 performance. “It was incredible. He’s coming up and you’re thinking he can’t do it again, and he does it again. He did everything tonight, he really did. He’s driving the bus home tonight.”
Milwaukee desperately needed all of it.
Aguilar connected off Raisel Iglesias (2-3) for Milwaukee’s fourth homer of the game, halting the Brewers’ month-long slide. Milwaukee has dropped 11 of 20 and slipped into third place in the NL Central, five games behind the Cubs.
The POWER of Jesús. 💪 pic.twitter.com/Mb1iat1njc
— MLB (@MLB) August 30, 2018
“Look, the next month there’s going to be crazy nights and there’s going to be more nights like this,” Counsell said. “It might be a different kind of crazy. We’re ready to take the ride.”
Yelich became the first Brewer s player to hit for the cycle since George Kottaras on Sept. 3, 2011, at Houston. He also matched the club record with six of the Brewers’ 22 hits, including a two-run homer .
“It’s one of those things you never really expect to do,” Yelich said. “Obviously you’ve got to have some luck involved in it, that’s always a factor when you do something like that.”
Mike Moustakas’ solo shot put Milwaukee ahead 11-10 in the eighth, but Joakim Soria’s wild pitch allowed Billy Hamilton to score the tying run in the bottom of the inning. Jeremy Jeffress (7-1) gave up Brandon Dixon’s homer in the 10th.
The second CYCLE of 2018!
Have a day, @ChristianYelich! pic.twitter.com/xrxj4DUCzh
— MLB (@MLB) August 30, 2018
The Brewers extended their Great American Ball Park record to 21 straight games with at least one homer. Cincinnati connected five times, including a disputed three-run shot by reliever Michael Lorenzen that made it 10-6 in the sixth inning.
“It was a slugfest, for sure — back and forth, long rain delay,” said Cincinnati’s Tucker Barnhart, who had a solo shot. “That one had a little bit of everything.”
Taylor Williams threw an up-and-in pitch to Lorenzen, who was trying to bunt with two runners aboard and two strikes. The ball deflected off Lorenzen’s bat as he pulled away, and plate umpire Tony Randazzo ruled — over the objection of Counsell — that Lorenzen was trying to avoid the pitch rather than bunt it.
Michael Lorenzen, AGAIN. Absolutely incredible.#PitchersWhoRake 💪💪💪 pic.twitter.com/Ph8wjvdLhY
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) August 30, 2018
Given an extra chance, Lorenzen connected on the next pitch for his fourth homer of the season, flipping his bat as he rounded the bases.
