Christian Yelich did something he’d never done before on Tuesday, hitting a ball 499 feet for one of the more colossal home runs you’ll ever see. It measured as the longest homer in the majors since 2019 and the third-longest since Statcast was introduced in ’15, as well as the longest recorded by a left-handed hitter at Coors Field. While the length of the ball’s majestic flight was surely helped by Denver’s thin air, this would’ve been long gone anywhere and far outpaced Yelich’s previous career best of 462 feet.
Yelich’s moon shot, his first since Aug. 28, was a reminder of what Milwaukee has been missing in recent seasons. It has not been Yelich’s fault that the Brewers have steadily drifted away from the Cardinals in the National League Central standings over the last month and failed to surpass the Phillies or Padres in the wild-card race; the 30-year-old has actually been quite good, while the Crew’s usually steady pitching has faltered in the wake of the Josh Hader trade. Indeed, the Brewers blew what was a five-run lead in the eighth inning Tuesday to lose to the Rockies in extra innings and waste Yelich’s leadoff home run. Meanwhile Philadelphia and San Diego each won to put Milwaukee three games behind both teams in the race for the NL’s second and third wild cards. The first spot almost certainly will belong to either the Mets or the Braves. (More on that race later.)
