The Brewers are back in action Saturday night with a chance to keep piling on after Friday’s 20-0 demolition of the Reds, a win that locked up a postseason berth and sent Milwaukee to 92-56.
Now the focus shifts to the NL Central race. Milwaukee’s magic number to clinch the division is down to 4, but the Cubs’ afternoon win over the Pirates closed the door on any chance of a Sunday celebration. The earliest the Brewers can be crowned is Tuesday in Pittsburgh.
Even after that kind of blowout, the Brewers are rolling in at the plate. Jackson Chourio has been right in the middle of it, and he stays in the leadoff spot after a blistering stretch in which he’s hit .379/.404/.621 with 6 home runs and 18 RBI over his last 23 games.
Brice Turang and Jake Bauers follow him, with Christian Yelich, William Contreras, and Garrett Mitchell in the middle of the order. Sal Frelick is in right field, Cooper Pratt is at short, and David Hamilton is at third base.
A couple of familiar names are out of the starting lineup after making noise Friday night. Lara, who made a clutch home run robbery, and Joey Ortiz, who put together a career-high four-hit game, are both sitting tonight.
Cincinnati sends Brady Singer to the mound, and he’ll lean heavily on a sinker-slider mix. Milwaukee is clearly aware of how Ortiz has handled right-handed sinkers, which helps explain the lineup decision.
Singer’s most recent outing came against the Brewers, when he gave up six runs over five innings, though Cincinnati still came away with the win. For the season, he’s carrying a 5.03 ERA in 28 starts, a full run higher than last year.
Milwaukee counters with Shane Drohan, who is 7-5 with a 4.09 ERA. He also faced the Reds in his last start and had a rough one, allowing six runs in four innings. That game, oddly enough, was the only one in that series last weekend that Milwaukee won.
The Reds’ lineup starts with Dane Myers, Elly De La Cruz, and rookie sensation Sal Stewart. Tyler Stephenson, Eugenio Suarez, and JJ Bleday hit in the middle, with Juan Brito, Hector Rodriguez, and Ke’Bryan Hayes rounding things out for Terry Francona.
Milwaukee is still chasing a shot at 100 wins for the first time in franchise history, and another win would chip away at the division number again. First pitch is set for 6:10 PM.
In Other News...
Brewers Are Doing It Again And MLB Didn't See This Coming
Jacob Misiorowski has been part of a Brewers run that looks a lot like the kind of summer Milwaukee has made into a habit, only this time the surprise is landing against the backdrop of preseason projections that did not fully account for how quickly this group could outperform expectations. FanGraphs had a picture of the 2026 season in mind before opening day, but the Brewers have spent the year pushing past it, with Misiorowskis pitching becoming one of the clearest reasons why.
Around the league, the same projection board is showing a few clubs going in the wrong direction, including Seattle, where Julio Rodrguezs underperformance has been part of a broader disappointment. Milwaukee, though, is on the other side of that ledger, and the longer the Brewers keep stacking wins like this, the harder it becomes to treat their rise as a temporary early-season blip. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Suddenly Have A Kyle Harrison Problem Before The Playoffs
Kyle Harrisons season has taken an abrupt turn at just the wrong time for the Brewers, who had counted on a strong start to get more out of the left-hander down the stretch. Instead, his recent struggles have pushed him out of the rotation and into the bullpen, a move that speaks to both his early promise and the urgency Milwaukee feels with October approaching.
His first outing in relief hardly eased those concerns. Harrison was tagged for four earned runs without recording an out, a rough debut in a new role that only sharpened the spotlight on his adjustment. Pat Murphy has acknowledged the issues, but the Brewers are still banking on Harrison finding something before the playoffs, because they will need more than just hope from a pitcher who once looked like a useful part of their postseason plans. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Suddenly Have A Shane Drohan Problem They Need To Figure Out
Shane Drohans recent outing against the Reds left the Brewers with one more bullpen question to monitor as October approaches. Milwaukee won the game 13-9, but Drohan was tagged for five runs over 3 2/3 innings, a rough enough night to draw a comment from manager Pat Murphy about whether the long season might be catching up to the left-hander physically.
Drohan, though, pushed back on the idea that his body is the issue and said he feels physically good, pointing instead to execution on the mound. That leaves Milwaukee trying to sort out whether his recent struggles are a workload concern or simply a command problem, a relevant distinction for a bullpen that has had its share of hiccups even after the club clinched a postseason berth. [Read more 🡒]