MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee rookie center fielder Joey Wiemer spent part of the Brewers’ trip to Cincinnati last weekend allowing a former college teammate to cut his hair.
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“My buddy Dre ( Dondrae Bremner ) in Cincinnati, he’s cut my hair for the last, like, six years,” said Wiemer, who played for the University of Cincinnati from 2018-20. “He might not be the most precise barber of all time, but he’s my barber.”
There apparently is some magic in Wiemer’s new mullet.
Wiemer went 4 for 4 with a pair of two-run homers, a double and a career-high five RBIs to spark the Brewers to a 10-2 blowout of the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night. Wiemer has gone 13 of 27 with five doubles, three homers and nine RBIs in an eight-game hitting streak that has improved his batting average from .195 to .231.
“He got a good haircut, and now he’s the best hitter on the planet,” Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes quipped.
Burnes and Willy Adames also delivered big performances as the Brewers rolled to one of their most convincing victories of the season.
Adames returned from the concussion list and put the Brewers ahead for good by homering in the first inning – a 400-foot shot over the center-field wall. Adames followed that up with a third-inning double in his first game since May 26, when he got hit in the head by a line drive from teammate Brian Anderson while standing behind the railing on the dugout steps.
“It was amazing,” Adames said. “I felt like that was my first game this season, I was so full of energy and having so much fun. I think everybody was having fun.”
Burnes (5-4) struck out nine while allowing two hits and no walks. In his last three starts, the 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner has given up eight hits and four runs over 21 innings. He has 24 strikeouts and seven walks during that stretch.
“I thought he had great stuff tonight, coming back to Cy Young stuff like he threw a couple of years ago,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “(We) just had a tough time. He was on the corners all night with really good stuff, and we had a tough time squaring him up.”
Hyde was ejected for the first time this season when he argued with plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt after Ryan O’Hearn struck out looking in the top of the fifth inning.
“I thought the strike zone was a little big and they were getting some calls on balls down,” Hyde said. “There were a handful of balls that I thought were borderline that we weren’t getting.”
Baltimore avoided the shutout by scoring two runs off Bennett Sousa in the ninth.
Orioles starter Dean Kremer (6-3) struck out five and walked none but allowed nine hits and six runs in five innings. The six runs Kremer allowed matched the total he had given up in the three starts leading up to this one.
Wiemer homered in the third inning off Dean Kremer and in the seventh against Bruce Zimmermann. Wiemer got a curtain call after the second homer, which increased his season total to eight.
Wiemer also made a sliding catch in center to start the top of the eighth, continuing the solid defense he has played all season even when he was struggling at the plate.
He certainly isn’t having trouble hitting the ball now. Maybe he owes a thank-you note to his former college teammate.
“It probably is like 95% him on this,” Wiemer joked after the game.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: 3B Gunnar Henderson was back in the lineup Wednesday after missing two games with lower back discomfort.
Brewers: Manager Craig Counsell said LHP Eric Lauer will make at least one more start for Triple-A Nashville while recovering from the right shoulder injury that has him on the injured list. Lauer struck out five and allowed four runs — two earned — and four hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings for Nashville on Tuesday.
FAMILY REUNION AT HOME PLATE
Orioles IF Ramón Urías and Brewers IF Luis Urías met at home plate before the game while bringing out their respective teams’ starting lineups. This series marks the first time the brothers have faced off in the major leagues. Luis Urías was on the injured list when the Brewers played at Baltimore last season.
UP NEXT
RHP Kyle Bradish (2-2, 4.13) starts for the Orioles and RHP Colin Rea (3-3, 4.94) pitches for the Brewers as this three-game series concludes Thursday afternoon.
TOP PHOTO: FILE – Milwaukee Brewers mascot Bernie Brewer during an exhibition spring training baseball game against the Oakland Athletics Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)