The Brewers still sit on top of the NL Central, but this week looked a little different. For once, the rest of the division actually made up some ground on Milwaukee, even if the gap remains plenty wide. The Crew went 3-4, splitting four games with the Cubs in Chicago before dropping two of three to the Reds in Cincinnati.
Jackson Chourio set the tone for Milwaukee’s offense with nine hits, including two doubles and a homer. William Contreras chipped in seven hits with four doubles and a homer, and Cooper Pratt made the most of his seven-hit week by driving in nine runs, highlighted by a homer and a bases-clearing triple. Seven different Brewers left the yard at least once.
On the mound, Logan Henderson delivered Milwaukee’s lone quality start, but it came in a loss. He gave up two runs over seven innings and struck out seven.
The bullpen kept doing its job, though, with Trevor Megill and Abner Uribe combining for 4 1/3 scoreless innings and nine strikeouts. Chad Patrick also tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings across two appearances.
The Cubs also had a mixed week, but they still came out 4-3 after splitting with the Brewers and then taking two of three from the Marlins in Miami. Alex Bregman stayed hot after a slow start to the season, hammering four homers and a double among his nine hits while driving in eight. Nico Hoerner added nine hits of his own, Michael Conforto went deep twice, and Pete Crow-Armstrong did the same, pushing him to 40 home runs for the season.
Chicago got strong work from its rotation, too. Kevin Gausman went seven innings, allowed one run, and struck out nine, while Shota Imanaga worked six innings, gave up one run, and fanned four. Aaron Civale handled the bullpen’s biggest moment with a three-inning save, allowing nothing and striking out three.
St. Louis kept hanging around with a 4-2 week of its own, taking two of three from both the Dodgers and Rockies to open its West Coast trip.
Thomas Saggese was the biggest bat in the lineup, piling up 10 hits with three homers, three doubles, and eight RBIs. Joshua Báez and Iván Herrera each added a pair of homers, with Báez collecting nine hits and Herrera finishing with 11.
The Cardinals also got solid starting pitching from Quinn Mathews and Andre Pallante, who each worked five innings and allowed one run. Mathews struck out four, Pallante struck out one. In relief, Ryan Fernandez, Gordon Graceffo, and Cooper Hjerpe combined for 9 2/3 scoreless innings and 15 strikeouts.
Pittsburgh matched that 4-2 mark after hosting the Giants and Angels and taking two of three from each. Henry Davis, Brandon Lowe, and Bryan Reynolds all homered to pace the offense.
Reynolds and Lowe tied for the team lead with eight hits, while Nick Gonzales and Oneil Cruz added six apiece. Cruz also led the club with six RBIs and three steals.
Jared Jones turned in Pittsburgh’s best start, throwing six scoreless innings with three hits, a walk, and nine strikeouts. The bullpen was just as sharp. Mason Montgomery worked four scoreless innings across four outings and picked up three saves, while Carmen Mlodzinski, Brandon Eisert, Wilber Dotel, Lake Bachar, and Gregory Soto combined for 11 1/3 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts.
Cincinnati kept its recent run going with another 4-2 week, and the Reds have now won each of their last three series against playoff teams in the Cubs, Padres, and Brewers. Elly De La Cruz and Matt McLain each hit two homers, while De La Cruz led the team with 10 hits and six RBIs.
Five other Reds homered once apiece, including Héctor Rodríguez, who finished with nine hits. Dane Myers had eight hits, and Sal Stewart added seven.
Andrew Abbott had a rain-delay shortened outing that lasted four innings, allowing two runs, one earned, while striking out five. Nick Lodolo followed with a quality start, going six innings and giving up two runs with five strikeouts. Emilio Pagán converted all three of his save chances, and Tejay Antone, Brock Burke, and Julian Garcia combined for 10 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen, with Antone striking out 10 over just four frames.
In Other News...
Brewers Rookie Fireballer Gets One Last Shot At The Cubs
Jacob Misiorowski gets another chance to face the Cubs on Tuesday at American Family Field, and for a rookie with only three big league starts under his belt, that is a pretty quick return to a familiar rivalry. He has already been a problem for Chicago this season, going 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA in those matchups while striking out 21 in 16 innings, and the Brewers have seen firsthand how his power stuff can change a game in a hurry.
The most memorable version of Misiorowski against the Cubs came when he hit 105.5 mph on the radar gun, a fastball that tied for the third-fastest ever tracked by Statcast. He was knocked around more recently at Wrigley Field, though Milwaukee still finished the job, so this one feels like another test of how much the Cubs can adjust before the rookie fireballer gets one more shot at them. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Enter A Crucial Stretch With New Pressure On Their Pitching Staff
After a week of back-and-forth games with the Cubs, the Brewers came away with a 3-4 mark and a sharper sense of where the pressure sits right now. The offense has had its moments, but Logan Henderson stood out for giving Milwaukee a solid pitching performance even as the staff around him continued to wobble through a stretch that made every inning feel important.
The roster churn has only added to the urgency. Milwaukee activated Abner Uribe and JoJo Romero from the injured list, put Bryse Wilson on the injured list, and watched Joel Kuhnel get designated for assignment before the Giants claimed him, a reminder that the pitching group is still being tested on multiple fronts. With more games against a division rival fresh in the rearview, the Brewers now have to hope these personnel moves help stabilize things before the next turn of the schedule gets any tougher. [Read more 🡒]
Garrett Mitchell Has Forced A Brewers Question At The Worst Time
Garrett Mitchell has finally gotten the kind of extended big-league runway the Brewers long imagined for him, and it has come at a time when every at-bat seems to carry extra weight. After spending his previous four partial seasons bouncing in and out of the lineup, he has logged 464 plate appearances this year, giving Milwaukee a much clearer look at what he is right now, not just what he might become.
What the Brewers have seen is a player whose offense still comes with familiar tradeoffs. Mitchell strikes out a lot, does not bring much power, and yet keeps finding ways to hold his own because of the amount of hard contact he produces. Even so, his place in the clubs postseason picture is far from settled, with outfield competition tightening at exactly the moment the Brewers would prefer to have their answers already in hand. [Read more 🡒]