MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers believe their aggressiveness on the basepaths is part of their identity.
Never was it more apparent than on Sunday.
Milwaukee stole nine bases in a 14-1 victory over the Athletics to break the team’s 33-year-old record for steals in a game.
All of them came in the first four innings. Six were swiped in the first, the first time in the expansion era a team stole that many bases in an inning.
“That’s the game we play,” said Brice Turang, who had three of the steals to increase his season total to eight. “So we’ve just got to keep playing it.”
According to Elias Sports Bureau, no team had stolen as many as six bases in one inning since the expansion era started in 1961. A team has stolen five bases in an inning 13 times since 1961, most recently by Cincinnati against Colorado on April 19, 2016.
Sportradar said the Brewers were the first team to steal six bases in an inning since Aug. 26, 1919, when the New York Giants had six steals in the third inning of the first game of a doubleheader against Pittsburgh.
“Anything that could have gone wrong, I felt like (it) did,” said Athletics starter Jeffrey Springs, who left the game in the fourth inning with a sore right hamstring.
The Brewers broke their franchise game record in the fourth inning when Caleb Durbin got his first career stolen base, two days after his major league debut. The Brewers had stolen eight bases in a 7-2 victory over the Toronto on Aug. 29, 1992.
Durbin was initially called out at second, but a video review determined he was safe. Durbin scored to extend Milwaukee’s lead to 8-0.
No Brewer got caught stealing until the fifth, when Shea Langeliers threw Sal Frelick out at second with Milwaukee leading 8-1.
Frelick finished the day with two steals to increase his season total to seven. Christian Yelich, William Contreras, Rhys Hoskins and Caleb Durbin stole one base each.
Milwaukee’s six first-inning steals included a pair of double steals. The Brewers scored four runs in that first inning by capitalizing on two hits, three walks, the six steals, a balk from Springs and two throwing errors by Langeliers.
“This club, they run,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “They took advantage of some slow times to the plate with Springs today. They read his leg kick realy well. They ran on every high leg kick. For Lang, he just gets rushed and tries to kind of overcompensate for that and let a couple of throws get away from him.”
On the first double steal, Langeliers’ throw to third went into left field, enabling Turang to score and Yelich to reach third. Contreras and Hoskins executed the second double-steal of the inning. Frelick walked later in the first inning and took off for second as Langeliers’ throw went into center. That error allowed Hoskins to score from third, though Frelick tried advancing to third on the play and got thrown out by center fielder JJ Bleday.
Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said it’s no surprise that the Brewers’ speed coaxed the Athletics into mistakes.
“I think it rattles any team,” Murphy said. “It could rattle us. If teams were doing it to us, we’d feel the same way. Our young guys like to run and are excited about playing that type of game.”
Milwaukee’s nine steals increased its season total to an MLB-leading 33 through 22 games. The Brewers have been caught just five times.
Last year, the Brewers won their second straight NL Central title while stealing 217 bases, second in the majors behind Washington’s 223. Before last season, no major league team had stolen as many as 217 bases in a year since Montreal’s 228 in 1993.
Milwaukee’s speed continued making an impact Sunday well after the first inning.
In the second inning, Turang drew a two-out walk and swiped second for his third steal of the day. Turang took off for third again, but Jackson Chourio swung on the pitch and hit an RBI double to right.
Frelick stole second in the third inning. Then Durbin delivered the record-breaking steal in the fourth.
“You kind of fall into a rhythm sometimes,” Frelick said. “You get a couple of stolen bases nd you’re like, ‘Maybe the catcher’s thinking about it, and I’ll keep running until somebody gets thrown out.’ ”
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