MIL Journal-Sentinel: Five homers back Parra’s seven shutout innings

The five homers the Brewers blasted in a 7-0 romp over interleague foe Toronto traveled a combined distance of 2,087 feet. For those scoring at home, that’s an average of some 417 feet per blast. In other words, they weren’t wall-scrapers.

“I think I was seeing the ball in high-definition tonight,” said Ryan Braun, who launched two of the rockets to reach the 20-homer mark for the season. “Tonight was one of those nights when the ball kind of slowed down for me, and for my teammates as well.”

Even wiry infielder Craig Counsell got into the act, turning around a 97-mph fastball from Toronto starter Dustin McGowan in the third inning for his first home run since last July. With that blast, Counsell was able to quiet teammate Prince Fielder, who started the home run derby with a 430-foot shot to center on a McGowan heater in the second.

“We joke in BP because I’ve been hitting the wall (with fly balls),” Counsell said. “I can’t get a ball out. I take five swings and hit the wall three times. He’s been on me to try to add a little bit more.”

I was surprised to see that Counsell actually hit three homers last year.  Sure didn’t seem like he hit that many.