Analysis | Jays come out swinging in series-opening win over Brewers

Here’s what you need to know about the Blue Jays’ 7-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at the Rogers Centre on Tuesday night:

Something brewing

The Jays jumped on Brewers right-hander Adrian Houser with four runs in the first, two in the second and one in the third.

After trailing 2-0 before they even came to the plate thanks to a William Contreras home run off Yusei Kikuchi, five of the first six Jays reached base. The barrage included RBI singles by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Matt Chapman along with a two-run double by Whit Merrifield. After their second trip through the batting order, the Jays had 10 hits — nine singles — and had made only seven outs.

Houser didn’t retire the Jays’ eighth- and ninth-place hitters, Alejandro Kirk and Cavan Biggio. Kirk had three singles, Biggio two plus a walk.

Rowdy returns

The Jays traded Rowdy Tellez to Milwaukee in July of 2021, getting back reliever Trevor Richards and minor-league pitcher Bowden Francis. But when Tellez stepped into the batter’s box as a pinch-hitter in the top of the sixth it was his first at-bat in Toronto in almost four years, having played his home games as a Jay in 2020 and 2021 in Dunedin and Buffalo.

Tellez, the only Brewer in double digits in home runs with 12, got a warm welcome from the crowd of 32,930 when he was introduced, then struck out looking against Nate Pearson. He had a chance to get the Brewers back in the game against Tim Mayza in the eighth with two on and two out, but grounded to second to end the threat.

Guerrero connection

Vlad’s uncle Wilton Guerrero, who played parts of four seasons with the Montreal Expos, came to town to help his nephew work out of a slump that saw him go just 1-for-12 in the weekend series in Minnesota.

The pair have been talking hitting since the younger Guerrero was five years old, so Wilton knows Vlad’s swing better than pretty much anybody. They talked a lot about timing, and whatever uncle Wilton said seemed to work in a hurry. Guerrero responded with his first three-hit game (without facing a position player) since April 8.

Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star and host of the baseball podcast “Deep Left Field.” Follow him on Twitter: @wilnerness

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