By Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel –
MILWAUKEE — Simply looking to get Aramis Ramirez a day off, Ron Roenicke might have inadvertently created a lineup controversy Sunday.
OK, not really. But after the performance Jonathan Lucroy put together filling in for Ramirez in the cleanup spot, no one could blame the Milwaukee Brewers’ skipper if he thinks twice about putting his young backstop there again Monday.
Lucroy turned in the game of his life, hitting two home runs — including a grand slam — and tying a franchise record with seven runs batted in as the Brewers took out a week’s worth of offensive frustration on the Minnesota Twins.
The result was a 16-4 whipping of their interleague border foe that snapped a four-game losing streak and, for at least a day, injected some much-needed positive vibes into the home clubhouse at Miller Park.
“It’s nice to see us bust out,” said Roenicke, whose team scored double-digit runs for the first time this season. “You never know, if a guy gets 2-3 hits in a game, hopefully that gets his confidence going. Hopefully a lot of guys feel that way.”
Lucroy certainly wasn’t lacking confidence at the plate coming in; he was hitting .330 overall and his .560 average with runners in scoring position led the major leagues.
But on Sunday, he took another giant step forward in what to this point has been an all-star-caliber season.
Making the first start in the cleanup spot by a Brewers catcher since David Nilsson on Aug. 18, 1999, Lucroy put together his first multi-homer homer game in finishing 3 for 5 with the seven RBI. He also scored three runs and was robbed of a fourth hit on a nice diving catch by Twins rightfielder Ben Revere in the fifth inning.
The Brewers signed Ramirez to a hefty free-agent deal in the off-season to man the cleanup spot vacated by Prince Fielder. After homering Saturday, the third baseman is at .218 with three homers and 21 RBI — numbers that certainly haven’t wowed anyone.
Ramirez has been a slow starter over the course of his career, though. That, coupled with the consistent numbers Ramirez has put up in his career, is why Roenicke isn’t considering flip-flopping him and Lucroy in the lineup moving forward despite Lucroy’s big day.
“I’m not saying in the future he’s not going to hit wherever,” Roenicke said of Lucroy, who is now hitting .342 with four homers and 27 RBI.
“Right now, we’ll go back to where he was. I like him behind Aramis. I think it’s a good spot for him, and really, he’s been unbelievable. As long as he keeps doing it, we need to put him in a position where there’s going to be guys on base for him.”
Lucroy hit either third or fourth in high school, college and in the minor leagues, so the cleanup spot wasn’t entirely new. With the Brewers, he’s been a staple toward the bottom of the order, although more recently he’s been utilized in the No. 2 and No. 5 spots.
On Sunday, he looked right at home from his first at-bat.
The Twins actually grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first when Josh Willingham singled off right-hander Zack Greinke to drive home Revere.
But Corey Hart tied it up quickly with the eighth leadoff homer of his career — a monster 455-foot bomb to left — and Lucroy followed three batters later with a 405-foot shot to left off Jason Marquis to make it 2-1.
Milwaukee then sent 11 hitters to the plate in the second inning to chase Marquis and break the game open. More impressive, they scored all six of their runs in the frame with two outs, with a two-run double by Ryan Braun and two-run single by Lucroy serving as the big blows.
From there, the Brewers tacked on two in the fourth and one in the fifth before Lucroy struck again. This time he took a 93-mph fastball from Jeff Gray the other way, sending it to right-center and just over the wall into the Twins’ bullpen to make it 16-1.
“All I was trying to do was hit the ball in the air somewhere and try to get a sac fly — just hit the ball somewhere,” Lucroy said. “I chased up and I kind of figured he’d probably throw me another one up there to see if I’d chase again, and I don’t think he got it high enough.”
Lucroy received a curtain call from the crowd of 33,064 immediately afterward and then a shaving-cream pie to the face from his teammates during a postgame TV interview. He wasn’t interested in trumpeting his accomplishments, however.
“I’m not a stat rat — I really don’t care how I do as long as I’m helping my team win,” he said. “That’s it. I’m not going to try to do any more than I can.”
Lost in the offensive fireworks was yet another solid start by Greinke.
He went 62/3 innings in picking up the victory and improving his career record to 14-0 at Miller Park. He also chipped in to the hit parade with a pair of singles, rounding out his day nicely.
“Fastball location’s been really good. Hopefully that’ll stay,” said Greinke.
