ARLINGTON, Texas — Christian Yelich returned to the lineup for the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night after their designated hitter missed five games because of lower back soreness.
Yelich batted fourth, going 1-for-4 in the Brewers’ 5-0 loss to the Texas Rangers.
The 33-year-old Yelich had played in 132 of Milwaukee’s 144 games this season before the opener in Texas, and was hitting .268 with team highs of 27 home runs and 92 RBIs.
“Feels good, wants to play. It’s an amazing thing that he’s played so many games,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “Coming off back surgery, we just didn’t know what we were going to get, but the surgeon has assured him this is going to happen, but it’s amazing that it hadn’t happened yet, so we have to be thankful.”
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Yelich was a late scratch last Wednesday before a 6-3 win over Philadelphia, and Murphy said then that Yelich had started experiencing some pain during a series against Arizona late last month. He still appeared in 22 consecutive games before coming out of the lineup last week.
“He came to me today and said, ‘I’m in there, right?’,” Murphy said. “He wants to play. That’s a good thing when your leader wants to get in there as soon as possible.”
Yelich made his 112th start at DH on Monday, and has also started 18 games in left field this season. Murphy said while “there’s a reason” to get Yelich a couple of games in the outfield before the end of the regular season, the manager said that’s not a priority.
In other injury news, right-hander Grant Anderson came off the injured list to boost the Brewers’ bullpen.
Right-hander Craig Yoho was optioned to Triple-A Nashville.
Anderson last pitched for Milwaukee on Aug. 23 before going on the injured list with tendinitis in his right ankle. The 28-year-old owns a 2-5 record and 2.87 earned run average in 57 appearances. He has struck out 66 over 62⅔ innings.
The Brewers still have All-Star closer Trevor Megill (right flexor), left-hander DL Hall (right oblique) and right-handers Nick Mears (back) and Shelby Miller (right elbow) on the injured list.
Murphy said Megill is scheduled to throw a simulated game Tuesday, and then would likely throw another one before being able to pitch again.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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