Had Brandon Lockridge not been injured in the game May 8 and landed on the injured list, Blake Perkins would have been playing for Class AAA Nashville on Mother's Day.
But the outfielder believes things happen for a reason and after finding himself starting in right field Sunday, he delivered the game's biggest hit up to Brice Turang's walk-off home run with a two-out, two-run single in the fourth inning of the Milwaukee Brewers' eventual 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees.
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The moment meant the world to Perkins, who lost his mother, Carisa Sharrett, to colon cancer last July 3.
"Just grateful I got to play today," said Perkins. "Obviously to come through in that spot is great. But yeah, it's been a lot of emotions for me today – mostly joy and just getting to play for my mom. I have so many friends and family members back home who are supporting me.
"It's joy."
So much is made of Mother's Day every season by Major League Baseball, with players swinging pink bats and sporting pink accountrements of every kind, that it wouldn't have been surprising to hear Perkins say he had a difficult time focusing on the task at hand considering what he went through last year.
But he emphasized that wasn't the case.
"Once I got out there and the game started it was all good," he said. "I'd say the pre-game stuff, just getting ready – I'm not saying it was bad emotion, but it's the first time, the first year I've celebrated this holiday without her.
"So, it was good. I felt her here with me and obviously I've got all the guys here who have got my back. It was a good day. A good Brewers win."
Milwaukee was trailing, 2-0, entering the fourth when New York left-hander Carlos Rodón walked William Contreras and Gary Sánchez and then plunked Andrew Vaughn to load the bases.
Two batters later Garrett Mitchell made it 2-1 with a sacrifice fly to bring up Perkins, who on the third pitch he saw lined a two-run single to center that gave the Brewers their first lead.
Perkins did have a shaky moment a couple innings after that when he missed the cutoff man Turang with his throw from the right-field corner as Cody Bellinger scored the tying run on a Jazz Chisholm double, and he then was pulled in favor of pinch-hitter Sal Frelick in the bottom half of the inning.
Nevertheless, to deliver the big hit that he did was certainly a big moment for the 29-year-old, who's now twice been the beneficiary of injuries – Perkins unexpectedly made the opening-day roster when Jackson Chourio landed on the IL with a broken hand – and otherwise struggled with his lessened role (.122 average, seven runs batted in over 21 games).
Perkins had just been demoted to Nashville in the wake of Chourio being reinstated from the IL when Lockridge was felled.
"He's a smart kid, and he was just disappointed in the beginning, that he didn't return as the starting center fielder," manager Pat Murphy said. "He had a lot going on last season, and sometimes we retreat in a way that isn't in our best interest, and I think that's what happened.
"He wasn't getting results and it just kind of snowballed on him and friends and people that care about him told him, 'Let's clean it up.' Hopefully he took it to heart. It's fun to trust him and fun to see him perform."
While speaking to the media after the game Sunday, Perkins's two-RBI baseball was already encapsulated, authenticated and in his locker with a picture of him on second base thanks to the Brewers' detail-oriented director of equipment for the major and minor leagues.
Perkins also plans on getting the pink bat he used for the hit authenticated and someday down the line he'll be able to put together a display reminding him of his very special day.
"It starts with my faith in Jesus and then it goes to my wife, my family and these guys here keeping me grounded. Obviously, Murph's a big help too because baseball's a tough game mentally with the ups and downs," Perkins said. "Just trying to take it a day at a time and ask for help if I need it.
"I'm not doing this all alone, I can tell you that."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Blake Perkins helps deliver a win on his first Mother's Day without his