MILWAUKEE -- Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers became the first player to win an MVP award and then hit a home run in each of the first three games of the next season.
Yelich connected in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park on Saturday. After leading the Brewers with 36 home runs last year, he is the first player in franchise history to homer in each of the first three games of a season.
.@ChristianYelich is the first player in @Brewers franchise history to hit a home run in each of his team's first three games. pic.twitter.com/Gmv4r45AS0
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) March 30, 2019
Yelich went hitless the rest of the way to finish 1-for-5. The Brewers won 4-2.
"Just trying to swing at good pitches and help the boys win," he said after the game. "I think we had a really good approach against [Dakota Hudson] today.
"Every year is a new year, so you're not trying to chase anything, trying to be at certain points or chase numbers, or anything like that. It's a fresh start. Like I've said, 2019 is its own season. You just focus in on the present."
Teammate Brandon Woodruff was more effusive in his praise.
"He's on another planet, man," said Woodruff, who started for Milwaukee and picked up the win. "He's so special. Just watching him, he's so balanced. He's not fooled that much. He's on time with pretty much everything. It's pretty cool to watch."
The major league record for home runs to start a year is four games. Five players have accomplished that feat: Willie Mays (1971), Mark McGwire (1998), Nelson Cruz (2011), Chris Davis (2013) and Trevor Story (2016).
Barry Bonds in 2002 and Albert Pujols in 2006 homered in the first two games of the season after winning MVP awards.
Yelich also made an early sliding catch in right field for the NL Central champion Brewers.
Information from ESPN's Bradford Doolittle and The Associated Press was used in this report.