ST. LOUIS - Jackson Chourio gave Brewers fans a quick double take Tuesday night, and the replay confirmed it: the right-handed Milwaukee outfielder stepped in and batted left-handed.
He didn’t just try it, either. Chourio nearly sent one out.
The unusual swing came in the ninth inning of Milwaukee’s 10-2 win over the Cardinals in Game 2 of the Brewers’ doubleheader sweep at Busch Stadium. By then, a seven-run seventh had already blown open what had been a one-run game, and St. Louis had turned to utility man Bryan Torres to pitch the final two innings.
Chourio said the idea came on a dare.
“They asked me before if I wanted to try hitting left-handed, and I told them, ‘yeah,’” Chourio said via translator Daniel de Monsesert. “I had fun doing it.
One of the most important parts of this game is to just have fun. Thanks to God, it was pretty good contact there.”
Torres floated in an eephus pitch at 34.9 mph, and Chourio drove it a projected 360 feet. Cardinals center fielder Nathan Church hauled it in a few steps short of the warning track, but Chourio admitted he was surprised by how deep it carried.
It was his first MLB at-bat as a left-handed hitter.
“He looked good,” manager Pat Murphy said. “It was the first time he’s swung the bat left-handed in years, he said, but he looked really good.
He’s an athlete. He’s a baseball player.”
Chourio kept the tone simple after the game.
“It was something new,” Chourio said. “I tried it, and I had fun doing it.”
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