ST. LOUIS (AP) — Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio produced a spectacular season debut in a losing cause Monday after missing the first month of the season.
Chourio went 4 of 4 and hit a pair of doubles in the Brewers’ 6-3 loss
to the St. Louis Cardinals. Chourio and teammate Andrew Vaughn came off the injured list earlier in the day after both players were dealing with fractured bones in their left hand.Vaughn went 0 for 4 in his first game since getting
hurt in the Brewers' season opener.
“Physically, I feel really, really good right now,” Chourio told reporters through interpreter Daniel de Mondesert before Monday's game. “Thanks to God, I'm going to be able to go out there and give my everything.”
Milwaukee also optioned outfielder Blake Perkins to Triple-A Nashville and designated outfielder Greg Jones for assignment.
The Brewers had been lacking power while Chourio, Vaughn and 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich were all on the injured list. Yelich last played on April 12 as he deals with an adductor strain.
Brice Turang's two-run shot in the ninth inning Monday was just Milwaukee's 23rd homer of the season. Only the San Francisco Giants have homered fewer times. Milwaukee’s .354 slugging percentage entering Monday's game ranked the Brewers ahead of only the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets.
Chourio collected at least 20 homers and 20 steals in each of his first two seasons in the major leagues. Vaughn had nine homers and an .869 OPS in 64 games for Milwaukee last year after they acquired him from the Chicago White Sox.
The 22-year-old Chourio was hit by a pitch from Washington’s Clayton Beeter while playing for Venezuela’s World Baseball Classic team in a March 4 exhibition with the Nationals at West Palm Beach, Florida. After Chourio felt bothered while attempting a check swing in late March, an MRI revealed a small hairline fracture at the base of the third metacarpal — something that hadn’t been visible during the initial testing that followed the March 4 game.
Chourio had left a game Saturday after fouling a ball off his left ankle during a rehabilitation appearance with Nashville, but the incident didn’t delay his return to the big leagues.
“It hurt, for sure,” Chourio told reporters. “It hurt right away. But I knew after that it wasn’t going to be anything that put me out for any long period of time or anything like that.”
Vaughn, 28, was injured during an at-bat in the Brewers’ 14-2 season-opening win over the Chicago White Sox. He was diagnosed with a fractured hamate bone.
The return of Chourio and Vaughn led to the exits of Perkins and Jones.
Perkins, 29, batted .109 with a .212 on-base percentage, no homers, five RBIs and one steal in 19 games. Jones, 28, hit .095 with one RBI, one steal, no walks and nine strikeouts in 22 plate appearances.
The Brewers also returned pitcher Quinn Priester from his rehabilitation appearance, though the right-hander remains on the injured list as he recovers from thoracic outlet syndrome. Priester allowed nine runs and walked eight batters over five innings in three appearances with Nashville.
Priester went 13-3 with a 3.32 ERA for Milwaukee last season.
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