Christian Yelich getting a breather on Thursday

Bauers broke the game wide open with his 391-foot (110.3-mph EV) three-run shot off of Andre Pallante in the third inning, increasing the Brewers’ edge to 6-0. His blast would prove to be the difference in the ballgame. Bauers also singled, walked and struck out twice in the ballgame, finishing the evening 2-for-4. On the season, he’s now slashing .268/.368/.505 with 17 long balls, 57 RBI and five stolen bases.

Yelich’s second double broke a 3-3 tie in the seventh for what proved to be the final run of the game. The Brewers also beat the Cardinals 4-3 last night. For Yelich, it’s his first game with three hits since May 26 and his first game with multiple extra-base hits since May 18. He entered the day in a 5-for-47 slump that had dropped his OPS to .700.

Bauers’ homer off left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez made it 2-1 in the seventh, and the Brewers added one more later in the inning before holding on to win. Bauers got the nod over Blake Perkins today, starting against a lefty for the 13th time in 29 chances this year. His 16 homers, 51 runs scored and 54 RBI are all career highs, though he still has fewer plate appearances this season (314) than he did in 2018 (388), 2019 (423) and 2024 (346). His .861 OPS is nearly 200 points better than his career mark of .672 from 2018-25.

Yelich got the Brewers to within a run when he took Merrill Kelly deep for a two-run blast; his sixth of the season. The 34-year-old has his first homer of July after going deep just once in the previous month. Yelich doesn’t have the same type of pop he once did, but it seems unlikely that he won’t go through a power surge at some point this summer. He definitely needs one.

Bauers took advantage of a mistake from Rhett Lowder and hit it 425 feet to center. He also singled twice, and came around to score on both of those knocks. That homer was the 15th of the season for the 30-year-old, putting him just under a 30-homer pace. To say this has been the best season of Bauers’ career thus far is quite the understatement.

Even though he’s hitting .263/.344/.421 against southpaws, this makes three straight times that Yelich has sat in games in which the Brewers have faced a lefty. That .765 OPS is actually better than his .730 mark against righties. The Brewers also have Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell on the bench tonight. Gary Sánchez is DHing.

Bauers came up in the sixth inning with two outs in a scoreless game and hit a go-ahead RBI triple. The Brewers would add another run and go on to win 2-0. The 30-year-old outfielder is enjoying a career season with an .869 OPS, 13 home runs and 47 RBI.

Yelich takes a seat with lefty Nick Lodolo taking the hill for Cincinnati. It’ll be William Contreras getting a turn at DH with Gary Sánchez drawing a rare start at catcher.

If you’re going to give Yelich a day off for rest, doing so against one of the best left-handers in baseball in Chris Sale makes a great deal of sense. Gary Sanchez will function as the Brewers’ designated hitter on Saturday and will bat cleanup.

If you’re going to get an occasional day off, doing so against Phillies’ left-hander Cristopher Sanchez isn’t a bad idea. Fellow left-handed hitters Christian Yelich, Jake Bauers and Sal Frelick are also on the pine for the Brewers in this one. Turang is having a strong season at the dish, slashing .261/.378/.457 with 10 homers, 42 RBI, 53 runs scored and 12 stolen bases through his first 296 plate appearances.