Brewers put the Pirates to the sword again to move to 13-7 on the season

Brew Crew set to return home after sweep

Another series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and another sweep for the Milwaukee Brewers. Andrew McCutchen had the last laugh (and the first laugh on Thursday) as he returned to his long-time home, and in spite of countless stressful moments throughout the trip, the Brewers managed to do what they often do and took care of business.

With a one-game lead in the NL Central, the Brewers have got to feel pretty good about where they are early in the campaign, and will hope that the upcoming homestand against the Cubs and Reds can act as a remedy of sorts for much of what ails them offensively.

Master Brewer Leaderboard

(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.)

*Christian Yelich 🍺

As touched on in the podcast, we’ve made some adjustments to our overall scoring and criteria for the Master Brewer Leaderboard. We continue to strive for a balance that rewards both the biggest moments and the most consistent play throughout the season, and with that we are going to revisit a more contentious decision from a couple of series ago.

We’re retrospectively giving Christian Yelich a Master Brew point for his grand slam against the Pirates in the previous series between the teams in Milwaukee. Although Yeli failed to follow it up with additional offensive impact in the series (or in the games since, if we’re being honest), it was a colossal moment in turning the tide in a 6-1 win and marked just the fourth slam of the former NL MVP’s career.

Willy Adames 🍺

Back to the present, the standout performance of the series undoubtedly came from Willy Adames as he finally found an offensive spark once again. The first two home run game of his career and a franchise record equalling 7RBI in the opener of the series was pretty special, and hopefully it can light a fire under Adames’ offense for the games to come.

Andrew McCutchen 🍺

It would be tough to script a more fairytale ending for Andrew McCutchen’s first series as a Brewer back at the sight of the peak years of his illustrious career. A lead-off home run as he sent the first pitch of the game into the stands at PNC Park even proved to just be a table-setter for a clutch 2RBI in the ninth to seal a 3-2 win for Milwaukee. Cutch has been consistent in putting up quality ABs for the Brewers so far, but lets hope his first home run representing Milwaukee sparks many more.

Freddy Peralta 🍺

Freddy Peralta was the last of the Brewers starting pitchers to deliver a performance that lived up to the high standards that fans had come to expect of him, but he certainly delivered in Pittsburgh. In six innings, Peralta allowed just three hits, with his seven Ks nicely complementing his zero walks or runs allowed.

Devin Williams 🍺

There have been some very shaky moments from Devin Williams early in the season, but there’s no doubting his brilliance. Williams can produce a wicked airbender at a moment’s notice just as all hope seems to fading, but it’s even better when he manages to showcase control and reduce the stress levels of Brewers fans overall. With four strikeouts in two innings against the Pirates, Williams did exactly that, and stepping in to deliver a save in place of Josh Hader in the closing game of the series added another feather to his cap too.

Kolten Wong 🍺

Kolten Wong certainly wasn’t delivering the most sensational offensive plays against the Pirates, but no Brewer was more consistent when it came to getting on base. Wong was 5-for-11 in the series while also being walked twice, leading to him tallying up four runs in total. Additionally, he also combined with Adames for a spectacular double play at a crucial moment in game two, with his positional awareness and stellar defensive instincts on full display with a beautiful blind flick in motion to his shortstop.

Josh Hader 🍺

1.1 innings pitched, four strikeouts and two saves is essentially just business as usual for Josh Hader at this point, but it doesn’t make it any less impressive. If anything, the Brewers just have to get better at limiting their need for Hader so they can keep him fresh for crucial moments later in the year.

Leaderboard through 20 games

Josh Hader: 🍺 x4

Rowdy Tellez, Corbin Burnes: 🍺 x3

Brandon Woodruff, Willy Adames: 🍺 x2

Christian Yelich, Andrew McCutchen, Kolten Wong, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer, Devin Williams 🍺