There was definitely some magic in the air at Great American Ballpark on Friday night.
The Milwaukee Brewers, powered by Christian Yelich and his custom Bob Uecker bat, a perfect tribute to the late former MLB catcher and announcer, stormed back to erase an 8-1 deficit and win a franchise record-tying 13th straight game with the 10-8 win over the Reds. And while the victory was undoubtedly one of the Brewers' most improbable of the season, there was never any doubt, particularly among Yelich.
Down 8-1, the 2018 National League MVP looked at his manager Pat Murphy in the dugout and firmly guaranteed his club would emerge victorious.
"... He told me on the bench, straight up, it was 8-1, he said, 'We're going to win this game,’" Murphy said, via Adam McCalvy. "How do you make that statement? He looked at me and said, 'We're going to win this game.'
"And then—it happened."
Yelich himself confirmed that his bold declaration also happened.
Christian Yelich went up to Pat Murphy when it was 8-1 and said the Brewers were going to win.
— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) August 16, 2025
His full postgame on an unforgettable night, including whether or not he’s going to use the bat again. pic.twitter.com/QCAXKI22rc
"Yeah," Yelich said when asked if he had said that to Murphy, via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "We've been in that situation before. We seem to always kind of make it close. Just with the way our team is, I knew we weren't going to get our doors blown off. We were going to find a way to get back into that thing. Just kind of a room full of fighters and guys that don't care what the scoreboard says...
Spurred by a Yelich RBI double and Andrew Vaughn three-run homer, Milwaukee put up a five-spot in the top of the third inning to quickly cut into the deficit, then tied the game in the top of the fourth inning thanks to—guess who—Yelich.
A never-surrender type attitude certainly was paramount to the Brewers' victory, but it would be naive to think that there wasn't a little Uecker magic going on at the ballpark. Yelich, who was dealing with an injury last summer, was unable to use the blue Louisville Slugger, which featured a picture of the iconic announcer, a tribute to his signature play-by-play call and was designed for MLB's Players' Weekend.
But there he was on Friday night, using the bat en route to a 4-for-5 performance at the plate, the perfect tribute to Uecker, who passed away in January.
"...When it comes to that guy [Uecker], nothing surprises me," Yelich continued. "You guys have been around him a lot too. Stuff like that, that's just part of 'Ueck. If you know 'Ueck, you know crazy things like that are going to happen when he's involved. It just adds to how special tonight was with the guys and the comeback win... Just a pretty cool, full-circle moment."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as What Christian Yelich Told Pat Murphy Before Brewers' Bob Uecker-Inspired Comeback .
