Why did Brewers' Jackson Chourio bat left-handed against Cardinals?

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Don't expect Jackson Chourio to suddenly become a switch hitter, but he did something for the first time July 7 against the St. Louis Cardinals – bat from the left side in the Milwaukee Brewers' 10-2 win.

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It was a moment of levity in a game that had gotten out of hand. The Cardinals were using a position player on the mound, with former Milwaukee Milkmen player and Brewers minor-leaguer Bryan Torres mopping up in the eighth and ninth.

Chourio, who didn't start the game but had gone 1-for-2 with an RBI single off the bench heading into that at-bat in the ninth, flew out on the first pitch, a lofted delivery from Torres that clocked at 34.9 mph. Chourio hit it 98 mph off the bat and sent it 360 feet, where it was easily caught by center fielder Nathan Church.

"I had fun doing it," Chourio said afterward with an assist from Brewers game specialist Daniel De Mondesert, serving as interpreter. "One of the most important parts of this game is to just have fun. Thanks to God, it was pretty good contact.

"I didn't think I got it quite as hard as I did, but when I saw the contact, I was pretty happy with myself."

Torres walked Gary Sánchez leading off the ninth, then coaxed the flyout from lefty Chourio, a lineout from Cooper Pratt and a flyout from Joey Ortiz to end the scoreless inning.

The Cardinals went 1-2-3 in their half of the ninth against Craig Yoho.

"It was something new," Chourio said. "I tried it and I had fun doing it."

Chourio also got a chance to see great early results for fellow Venezuelan Luis Lara, who made his Major League debut and got his first hit – a two-run single with the bases loaded. Lara finished with the single, a walk and a run.

Lara, only eight months younger than Chourio, also batted from both sides of the plate in the game, albeit in a more conventional capacity since he's been a switch-hitter throughout his career.

"Very happy that he's going to be a teammate of ours for many years to come," Chourio, 22, said of Lara, 21. "Very happy for him, very excited for him."

Todd Rosiak of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Why did Brewers' Jackson Chourio bat left-handed against Cardinals?

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