At the close of play on May 5, Milwaukee Brewers infielder Keston Hiura was lugging around a slash line of .216/.310/.378 in this, his fourth MLB season. The struggles continued a trend that's been in place since the end of Hiura's standout rookie season of 2019. On Wednesday, though, the former No. 9 overall pick got another shot.
Earlier in the day, the Brewers placed shortstop Willy Adames on the injured list with a high ankle sprain and recalled Hiura to take his spot on the active roster. During his minor-league exile at Triple-A Nashville, Hiura punished the ball across five games, but his performance at the highest level will of course determine whether he stays there. On that front, you may consider him to be off to fine start.
In Wednesday's rubber match against the Braves, Heston's Brewers eked out a run in the ninth against Atlanta closer Kenley Jansen to send the game to extras and tag Jensen with his first blown save of the season. Each team put a run on the board in the 10th, and in the top of the 11th the Braves again took the lead. In the home half, Kiura, 0 for 4 up to that point in the game, came up with the automatic runner on second. Here's what he did to a Jesse Chavez sinker:
That's a walk-off home run and Hiura's third home run of the season. That's also a 7-6 Brewers win to take the three-game series from the defending World Series champs. The win also means the Brewers have stretched their lead in the NL Central to three games over the Cardinals. For Hiura, he and the Brewers are no doubt hoping this is the start of better days for him in Milwaukee.
