SEATTLE - After 20 days of failed attempts, Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames finally broke his bad streak without a home run with a three-run dinger in a 5-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on May 27.
It was the first time since May 7 that Adames sent the ball over the fences, a 17-game streak in which the Dominican shortstop only had nine extra-base hits.
With the game scoreless at the top of the eight, the Brewers scored five runs, three of them produced by Adames' 427-foot home run off Hayden Wesneski, helping get the first win of the three-game series over the Cubs.
Adames entered the game slashing .213/.253/.404 over 99 plate appearances in May, but things were different on Memorial Day. He went 2-for-4 with his eight home run of the season on a 3-0 count pitch, the first time in his career that he has hit a homer under such conditions.
"I don't really like to swing 3-0, but today it was just the right opportunity, the right moment, the right situation," Adames said. "I think today was one of those situations where you're like really confident about swinging 3-0 and we got the results we wanted."
One of the unwritten rules in baseball is about not swinging on a 3-0 count, but the strategy worked for Adames this time around as he hit his ninth career HR against the Cubs, his second-most against a single team only behind the 13 homers he has against the Cincinnati Reds.
With the win over their divisional rivals, the Brewers are now 4.5 games ahead of second place in the NL Central division, making Milwaukee (31-22) one of four NL teams with at least nine games above .500 so far this season.
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