Brew Crew sweep the Pirates in crucial NL Central series to return to the top of the division

Never a bad day when you break out the brooms

The Milwaukee Brewers secured a series win just when they needed it most. The Crew finally snapped their six game losing streak with a 5-4 win on Friday, thanks in large part to another great start by Julio Teheran.

Saturday afternoon saw Wade Miley make his return to the starting rotation. Miley and the bullpen managed to hold the Pirates scoreless. The 5-0 victory clinched the series win over the Pirates.

Oh, but the fun wasn’t over yet. On Sunday they decided to ramp up the drama. Freddy Peralta battled command issues, but still gave the Brewers a quality start with nine strikeouts. A 2-1 deficit in the 8th inning turned into a 5-2 lead after a William Contreras single, a Raimel Tapia sac fly, and a Luis Urias two-RBI single. Devin Williams closed down the 9th inning to make it a clean sweep.

Next up is three games against the fearsome Arizona Diamondbacks, who look like real contenders in the NL. After that, Milwaukee embarks on a 10-game road trip.

Master Brewer Leaderboard (through 71 games)

(The Master Brewer Leaderboard is a season-long leaderboard tracking and ranking exceptional performances from Brewers players in the form of Master Brew Points 🍺, which at the end of the season will tally up to crown our Crewsing for a Brewsing Player of the Year.)

Julio Teheran🍺

There’s not much more we can say about the job Julio Teheran has done in his first five starts. He held the Pirates to just two runs across six innings on Friday, bringing his ERA down to 1.78 in 30.1 innings. Chad Gilligan of FanGraphs posted a great piece about Teheran’s changes to his pitch mix and shape/velocity changes on some of his breaking pitchers. It’s well worth a read.

Wade Miley🍺

Welcome back, Wade Miley! This banged up Brewers rotation sure could use the Miley from April and May. Craig Counsell was understandably cautious with Miley’s pitch count, but the veteran lefty was still able to provide five scoreless innings.

Freddy Peralta🍺

Freddy Peralta fought his command at times on Sunday, but ended his day with a quality start. Peralta allowed only two runs on a Bryan Reynolds homer in six innings of work. His nine strikeouts were a season best.

Devin Williams🍺

After a tough blown save in Minnesota, Brewers fans were looking for Williams to get back on track whenever his next appearance would be. He made things interesting on Friday by loading the bases, but a strikeout of Jason Delay ended the drama. Sunday’s save was stress free. I’d say Devin has put the blown save in the rearview mirror.

Joel Payamps🍺

High leverage Joel Payamps did his job on Friday night. Nursing a one run lead, Payamps pitched a scoreless 8th inning to keep the lead intact. It sure seems like Payamps has earned the setup man role.

Trevor Megill🍺

Trevor Megill has had a few hiccups as a Brewer this season, but his powerful fastball also leads to him dominating opposing hitters for stretches. He added a pair of scoreless innings to his account against the Pirates and seems to be rounding back into form.

Hoby Milner🍺

Hoby Milner put together another scoreless series. After some struggles, his ERA is back down to 3.00.

Peter Strzelecki🍺

It was a bounce back outing for Peter Strzelecki on Saturday night. His 1.2 scoreless innings of work put an end to a stretch of back to back appearances where he allowed three runs in each outing. Hopefully he can regain the consistency he showed last season and earlier in 2023.

Christian Yelich🍺

Christian Yelich has an OPS of .801. Just an observation. I’m remaining calm. He went 3-for-11 against the Pirates with three walks. Sunday he led the way with a pair of doubles, one that he pulled and one to the opposite field. It’s nice to have variety.

Blake Perkins🍺

Blake Perkins has played very well lately. He finished this series 3-for-5 with 1 walk, 1 home run, two runs scored, and three RBI. Sal Frelick may be knocking at the door, but Perkins is doing everything he can to make sure he sticks around too when Frelick is ready.

William Contreras🍺

William Contreras helped Freddy Peralta steal a few strikes early on Sunday and he did some damage at the plate. You already read about his clutch 8th inning RBI single, but he finished the series 3-for-7 with one walk, one double, one triple, and two RBI.

Joey Wiemer🍺

A two homer series has earned Joey Wiemer yet another beer. Brewers fans will live with the strikeouts if he continues to flash the power he’s shown over the last few weeks. Long live the mullet!

Raimel Tapia🍺

Welcome to the leaderboard, Raimel Tapia. Sure, he had a pretty rough series at the plate overall, BUT we have been pretty generous with our welcome to Milwaukee beers. Tapia earns his with a go-ahead sacrifice fly on Sunday that was nearly a bases clearing extra base hit or even a grand slam.

Leaderboard through 71 games

Devin Williams: 🍺x16

Joey Wiemer: 🍺x12

Brian Anderson, Peter Strzelecki, Christian Yelich: 🍺x11

Rowdy Tellez, Joel Payamps: 🍺x10

Corbin Burnes, Bryse Wilson, Owen Miller, William Contreras: 🍺x9

Hoby Milner: 🍺x8

Willy Adames, Elvis Peguero: 🍺x7

Brice Turang, Julio Teheran, Wade Miley, Freddy Peralta: 🍺x6

Victor Caratini, Garrett Mitchell, Colin Rea: 🍺x5

Adrian Houser, Blake Perkins: 🍺x4

Jake Cousins, Jesse Winker, Eric Lauer, Trevor Megill: 🍺x3

Brandon Woodruff, Gus Varland, Javy Guerra, Tyrone Taylor, Andruw Monasterio: 🍺x2

Mike Brosseau, Luke Voit, Matt Bush, Tyson Miller, Darin Ruf, Abraham Toro, Raimel Tapia: 🍺