Robertson's first HR since '19 keys Crew's 'W'

Before he powered the Brewers to a 4-3 win over the Reds on Saturday at Great American Ball Park, Daniel Robertson’s last home run in a game that counted was two teams and more than two years ago.

This one was worth the wait.

Robertson’s tie-breaking home run in the seventh inning followed Jackie Bradley Jr.’s go-ahead single in the sixth that didn’t leave the infield but was good for two runs thanks to Avisaíl García’s hustle and third-base coach Jason Lane’s good send. It gave Brent Suter a chance to rebound for a scoreless seventh inning after yielding a one-run lead in the sixth, and when Devin Williams and Josh Hader closed out the victory, the Brewers snapped a three-game losing streak and won for the fifth time in their last 18 games.

The unlikely hitting hero was Robertson, who entered play 5-for-57 this season, if you count his 1-for-18 showing at Triple-A Nashville over the past two weeks. Robertson was there on a rehab assignment, completing his comeback from a concussion sustained April 25 at Wrigley Field when he was hit by a pitch on the helmet. The Brewers activated him Friday to resume utility infielder duties and he dipped his toes in the water with a ninth-inning groundout.

A day later, he took over on defense as part of a double switch in the sixth inning, then hit the first Heath Hembree pitch that he saw in the seventh just a few inches beyond the glove of leaping Reds center fielder Scott Heineman to snap a 3-3 tie. This home run meant a lot more than Robertson’s last home run, a solo shot with two outs in the ninth inning of a lopsided loss for his Tampa Bay Rays against the Royals back on May 1, 2019.

The question was whether it would carry enough.

“I kind of got caught up in the moment, watching it and seeing where the center fielder was,” Robertson said. “About halfway down the line, I was like, 'I should probably get on my horse because I've got to get on [second] or [third] if this kicks off [the wall].'”

Said Brewers manager Craig Counsell: “I checked the flags real quick as the ball's in the air. It wasn't a sure thing, I know that.”

Out in center, Heineman timed his jump. He’d already hit a solo home run in the game, one of the two off Brewers starter Brett Anderson, who had an otherwise solid outing. The left-hander had his start cut short when he experienced some nausea during a sixth inning that included a scary moment in which home-plate umpire Ron Kulpa had to leave the game after being struck by a Sonny Gray pitch.

Now, Heineman was trying to take a home run away.

“I’m really upset about that one,” Heineman said. “I should have had it. I thought I had it. I don’t know how I didn’t get it.”

“I saw him leap up,” Robertson said, “and then I saw it clear the fence, and it was just a moment of joy. This game is hard, man.”

The game had been taken away from Robertson after the concussion, which he spoke of for the first time Saturday. Initially, the Brewers didn’t think he would need a stint on the seven-day concussion IL, but that outlook changed when Robertson’s symptoms didn’t abate.

He described dizziness anytime he attempted to ramp-up activity, and a sensation of not being able to see straight when he woke up in the morning. Robertson spoke to other players who’d endured concussions and was warned to be cautious, lest the condition extend from two or three weeks to two or three months.

“At first it was kind of nerve-racking because I'm waking up and I'm doing things and I just feel underwater and just not processing things right,” Robertson said. “The only way to heal it is rest.”

Now, he’s back to help out. Robertson and Luis Urías, who also homered Saturday in a start at second base for a banged-up Kolten Wong, are Counsell’s primary utility men at the moment.

“You play 162 games and you need different heroes every night,” Counsell said. “It's great for D-Rob. I think he's played really nice defense whenever we put him in there, but it's nice to do something with the bat and be a little bit of the offensive hero. That's what it takes to win a whole bunch of games. You need those contributions from every single guy on your roster.”