Todd Rosiak

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Is it too early to start talking about Christian Yelich repeating as National League most valuable player?

It's a valid question considering the way the Milwaukee Brewers outfielder has performed so far on the young season.

Yelich homered for the fourth consecutive game in the first inning, then smoked a two-run, walk-off double to left-center in the ninth. His latest heroics delivered the Brewers an inspiring 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon at Miller Park.

“I’ve never seen anyone this good at baseball for this long," said 2011 NL MVP Ryan Braun of Yelich, who through four games is hitting .500 with four homers and eight runs batted in while slugging 1.583. His OPS stands at an otherworldly 2.250.

"I mean, maybe (Barry) Bonds in his prime. As great as (Mike) Trout is. I’ve seen (Albert) Pujols. Like, I’ve never seen anyone this good for this long.

"If you go back, we’re looking at a pretty large sample size. I think everybody should take the time to appreciate it, because what we’re witnessing is greatness. It’s absolutely incredible. Even his outs are on the barrel. He’s obviously not getting many pitches to hit.

"It’s incredible. It’s fun to watch, it’s fun to be a part of, and it’s so special.”

The game-clinching rally was both quick and dramatic.

Ben Gamel came off the bench against fireballer Jordan Hicks, and in an 0-2 count laced a 99-mph sinker for an opposite-field double. The ball bounced just inside the left-field line and quickly put a runner in scoring position.

Lorenzo Cain followed with a shot off Hicks' glove that allowed Gamel to advance to third and Cain to reach himself on an infield single.

"Ben got a hit 0-2 — he hung in there and doubled down the line," manager Craig Counsell said. "We got a break on Lo’s ball — he’s trying to get him over, caught a break off the pitcher’s glove."

NOTES:Burnes goes back to basics in MLB debut as a starter

BOX SCORE:Brewers 5, Cardinals 4

BREWERS:Schedule | Results | Stats

MLB:Scoreboard | Standings

That brought up Yelich, who was showered with chants of "MVP! MVP!"

With the homer and three walks already to his credit, he got ahead of Hicks, 2-0, before lacing a 102-mph sinker to the gap in left-center.

“Just trying to pick out a good one and put a good swing on it," Yelich said. "He’s got really good stuff. The ball moves a lot. He’s got three really good pitches. You just want to make sure you get it in the zone and do something good with it.”

Centerfielder Harrison Bader made a diving try and deflected the ball before it reached the warning track, but ultimately the effort was in vain.

Gamel trotted in to tie it and Cain raced all the way from first to home, diving into the plate with a head-first slide as the Brewers dugout emptied in celebration.

"I thought the ball was going to get in the gap easy," said Counsell. "Bader got there and the dive – the fact that he dove probably gave us a little more time – the ball kicked away. Once it kicked away, I felt pretty good about it.

"It turned fast. The game turned fast."

It was Yelich who also got the Brewers out to a quick 1-0 lead, as he pulled a Michael Wacha fastball into the second deck in right two batters in.

“I’m just trying to be present in the day, no matter if it goes good or bad the night before," Yelich said. "Just reset and stay disciplined in your cage work routine or BP. Just focus on each day.”

Youngster Corbin Burnes, making his first major-league start, did his part to hold the lead by fanning nine in his first three innings of work. The nine consecutive outs via strikeout tied a franchise record set by reliever Bob Gibson at Minnesota on May 25, 1984.

A two-run homer by Paul DeJong in the fourth put the Cardinals up, 2-1, and then consecutive homers in the fifth by Matt Carpenter and Paul Goldschmidt doubled the Cardinals' lead to 4-1.

Burnes finished the inning and his day having allowed six hits, four runs and a walk with 12 strikeouts — one shy of tying new rotation mate Freddy Peralta's franchise record for a pitcher making his first start — over 87 pitches.

Matt Albers kept the Cardinals at bay with a scoreless sixth and seventh, and the Brewers offense finally got something going in the bottom of the seventh without the benefit of a homer.

A pair of walks — with the second drawn by Yelich against tough left-hander Andrew Miller — put two on for Braun, who responded with a two-out RBI single to left.

One batter later, Travis Shaw hit what should have been a routine pop fly to shallow left. But Matt Carpenter lost sight of the ball after being positioned in a shift and it dropped behind him, allowing Yelich to score to draw Milwaukee to within 4-3.

"We scored two runs off Andrew Miller," Counsell said. "We got to him twice in two appearances, and that is not easy to do."

That mini rally got the Brewers within striking range, and they ultimately turned the game in their favor in the ninth thanks to Gamel, Cain and, once again, Yelich.

"It’s huge,” said Braun. “If you look back to last year, we had some similar games that we ended up pulling out early (in the season) that it didn’t look like we were going to be able to win, and obviously we had to play Game 163 last year.

"We anticipate a highly contested division again. We know that every win is of the utmost importance and significance, especially against the teams that we know we’re going to be fighting with down to the end. It goes without saying — huge win.”

FIVE TAKEAWAYS

EXCLUSIVE COMPANY: In homering in his fourth straight game to open the season, Yelich joined San Francisco's Willie Mays (1971), St. Louis' Mark McGwire (1998), Texas' Nelson Cruz (2011), Baltimore's Chris Davis (2013) and Colorado's Trevor Story (2016) as the only players in major-league history to accomplish the feat.

AND MORE EXCLUSIVE COMPANY: Yelich has now homered in five consecutive games against the Cardinals dating to last season, making him the seventh player in history to do so. The last was Jeff Bagwell, who did it during in the month of July during the 2000 season. Hank Aaron also did it during the 1972 season.

SHOWING RESPECT: Wacha and the Cardinals earned some boos in the third when, with one out and Lorenzo Cain on second after doubling, they put Yelich on intentionally. The tactic worked, as Braun and Shaw both struck out to strand the pair. The Brewers walked Goldschmidt in his final at-bat Friday after he'd homered three times and gone 4 for 4 to that point.

OUCH: The game was delayed in the ninth when Yasmani Grandal's throw to second on Kolten Wong's steal attempt hit Wong in the side of the head just below his helmet. The ball caromed away but Wong stayed down, and after being examined for a few minutes by St. Louis athletic trainers, the second baseman stayed in.

LOTS OF LONGBALLS: The Brewers and Cardinals tied the Miller Park record for combined homers in a series with 18 (each team hit nine). The Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates combined to hit 18 from April 29-May 1, 2013 (the Brewers hit 10, the Pirates eight).

RECORD

This year: 3-1

Last year: 3-1

ATTENDANCE

Sunday: 35,042

Year to date: 147,158 (36,790 avg.)

Last year: 125,137 (31,284 avg.)

COMING UP

Monday: Brewers at Reds, 5:40 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Zach Davies vs. Cincinnati RHP Tanner Roark. TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.