MILWAUKEE — Rowdy Tellez said he blacked out at the instant of the biggest moment of his career, but not so long that he couldn’t appreciate what he had done.
Tellez, the first baseman the Milwaukee Brewers acquired during the season, unloaded on a seventh-inning fastball from Charlie Morton for a two-run homer, breaking up a scoreless tie and propelling Milwaukee to a 2-1 win over Atlanta in Game 1 of their NLDS series.
“They always talk about blacking out or being unconscious,” Tellez said. “That’s what it was. I had that moment. As soon as it left the bat, I knew.”
Morton had dominated Milwaukee to that point. Through six innings, he limited the Brewers to two hits and struck out nine, while throwing just 77 pitches. No Brewer had even reached second base.
But as so often happens in the playoffs, one crucial and abrupt change in momentum changed everything.
First, Morton had a rare lapse of command, as a 1-2 fastball up and in to Avisail Garcia got away from him and hit the Milwaukee right fielder on the forearm. However, he recovered and got ahead on the count 1-2 to Tellez, getting strike two on a fastball that a late swing sent slicing up the left field line and into foul territory.
Tellez, thinking perhaps his bat had cracked on the foul ball, called time to get a new piece of wood. The short delay only intensified the anticipation building in the ballpark.
“I don’t know if I broke that bat,” Tellez said. “I just saw something fly off it. I was, like, I need all the help I can get right now.”
As Tellez prepared his new bat for action, he was perhaps getting help he couldn’t see: The television broadcast captured ebullient Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames on the top step of the dugout, stroking and speaking to his own bat, then kissing it, presumably for good luck.
A moment later, Tellez crushed Morton’s pitch 411 feet, well over the home run line on the right-center field fence, as the yellow towel-waving throng at American Family Field sent the…
Source : espn
