Christian Yelich's response to fans' support propels Brewers to win over Paul Skenes

Ahead of Tuesday night's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy made the difficult decision to drop his veteran leader, Christian Yelich, down in the batting order. Initially slated to hit seventh for the second contest of the Brewers' four-game set against the Pirates, Yelich ended up hitting in the fifth spot in the order after Jake Bauers was scratched from the lineup shortly before first pitch.

The switch, which tacitly was meant to ease some of the pressure that the struggling Yelich no doubt added to his already high expectations, didn't produce the results that Murphy and the Brewers were hoping for. Yelich, who has certainly been the victim of some poor luck as of late, went 0-for-4, extended his hitless streak to 13 at-bats, and saw his season-long OPS drop down to .687.

Following Tuesday night's game, Murphy made a plea to Milwaukee Brewers fans, asking them to remember who Yelich was and not give up on him, as their "boos" on Tuesday night indicated they were. Said Murphy after the game, "He doesn’t need my protection. He doesn’t need me to speak up for him. He needs encouragement. So I’m asking the fans…to remember who this guy was.”

Murphy's comments clearly resonated with the Milwaukee faithful who, when Yelich stepped to the plate for his first at-bat on Wednesday night, gave him a resounding applause to show their faith in the former MVP. Yelich, hitting in the fifth spot in the order once again, and facing the intimidating Paul Skenes, was once again the victim of poor luck in his first at-bat, as he struck out on a check swing that was questionably deemed a swing by third base umpire James Hoye.

However, when Yelich stepped to the plate for his second at-bat of the contest, and the 33,000+ fans in the seats at American Family Field once again cheered loudly for the 34-year-old franchise icon, the outcome was rather different.

Brewers fans show faith in Christian Yelich, who delivered with two hits on Wednesday night

In the bottom of the 4th inning, with Skenes and Harrison turning in a pitcher's duel through the first third of the game, the score remained 0-0, but the Brew Crew was threatening. After Garrett Mitchell walked, stole second base, and advanced to third on a throwing error from Pirates' catcher Endy Rodríguez, and William Contreras walked, Yelich stepped into the box with one out and runners on the corners.

After falling behind 3-1 to Yelich, Skenes tried to sneak a back-door slider past the Brewers' veteran -- a pitch Yeli has struggled with this year. However, Yelich laced a 98 mph double down the right field line that scored Mitchell from first and advanced Contreras to third. The next batter, Andrew Vaughn, sneaked an RBI single through the right side that scored both Contreras and Yelich, giving the Brewers a 3-0 lead over the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner.

Yelich, however, wasn't done. With the crowd on his side, Yelich added a hard-hit, opposite-field single to left field in the sixth inning. The Brewers' veteran quickly stole second base and advanced to third on an excellent read of a ball in the dirt that was deemed a wild pitch. Though Yeli didn't come around to score, the sequence was reminiscent of his All-Star self, and quickly reiterated Murphy's remarks that Brewers fans need to have faith in Yelich's turnaround.

After the game, Murphy, after relaying his shock that fans tuned into his postgame press conferences and heeded his advice, called the fans' response, "really special," before saying about Yelich, "I'm really happy for him. That was awesome."

Yelich himself said he noticed the fans' response, saying, "It was cool to see the support from the fans tonight. Obviously hasn't been the greatest last couple months for me...definitely appreciate that tonight." Said Yelich on his approach in the at-bat against Skenes, "Just trying to get the job done, get the guy in from third with less than two outs." On Skenes' decision to throw him a slider in a "hitter's count," Yelich responded, "There are no fastball counts in baseball anymore," before noting that Skenes went to the slider down and in on 2-0, so he might go back to it on 3-1.

Whether it be the good approach he had against Skenes, the encouragement from the fans, or simply him "being due," there's no denying that Yelich delivered on Wednesday night and was key to the Brewers' victory. For a struggling star searching for confidence and wanting to meet his high expectations, that hit against one of the best pitchers in baseball, while the fans demonstrated their support, could certainly be the spark Yelich needs to turn his season around.

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