Brewers secure series split against the dangerous Dodgers

A 2-2 split is a job well done given the circumstances.

The Milwaukee Brewers are in survival mode these days. And survive they did against the Los Angeles Dodgers this week, though it wasn’t without some stress.

They were shutout on Monday, secured a drama filled Manfred Ball win on Tuesday, struggled offensively again on Wednesday in a loss, and held on for dear life in a 5-3 win on Thursday. A series split against a Dodgers team just coming off of a 12-game winning streak is nothing to sneeze at.

Despite battling back for the split, the now 63-54 Brewers did lose some ground in the division race. With 45 games remaining, they’re now three games back of the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central.

However, the NL Wild Card race has tightened. The Crew are currently one game back of the San Diego Padres for the third and final NL Wild Card spot and two games back of the Philadelphia Phillies for the second NL Wild Card spot. Are we having fun yet?

Adam and Andrew talk about the series against the Dodgers, look ahead to the upcoming slate of opponents, and try to catch their breath as the games come fast and furious.

Master Brewer Leaderboard (through 117 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.)

Eric Lauer 🍺

Eric Lauer provided some bulk innings that were essential, due to the heavy workload asked of the bullpen this week. The Brewers may not have won the game, but Lauer kept things close. Lauer allowed just a pair of runs on, you guessed it, two solo homers. He struck out seven Dodgers along the way and scattered four hits and three walks.

Devin Williams 🍺

Devin Williams was dominant against the daunting Dodgers, proving he has what it takes to be Milwaukee’s closer of the present and future. Williams pitched two innings without allowing a run while racking up four strikeouts. His season ERA has been lowered to 1.55.

Taylor Rogers 🍺

Rogers seems to have recovered nicely from a troublesome outing against the St. Louis Cardinals. He fired two scoreless/hitless innings against baseball’s best team with a couple of strikeouts. If this version of Taylor Rogers is here to stay, that bodes well for a back of the bullpen that is still trying to fall into place.

Andrew McCutchen 🍺

McCutchen’s stats for the series aren’t exactly overwhelming, but he sure came through in the clutch in Thursday’s series finale. He finished 2-for-12 in three games played, but the two hits were a pair of homers that gave the Brewers control of the Thursday afternoon game they’d eventually win.

Hunter Renfroe 🍺

Renfroe’s 5th inning home run on Thursday gave the Brewers all the insurance runs they’d need to finish off the Dodgers for a 5-3 victory. For the series, Renfroe went 4-for-16 with two runs, the aforementioned homer, a double, a crucial 11th inning bunt single on Tuesday, and two RBI.

Leaderboard through 117 games

Rowdy Tellez: 🍺 x18

Corbin Burnes: 🍺 x14

Christian Yelich: 🍺 x13

Andrew McCutchen: 🍺 x11

Willy Adames: 🍺 x10

Hunter Renfroe, Jace Peterson: 🍺 x9

Devin Williams, Luis Urias, Brandon Woodruff:🍺 x8

Eric Lauer, Tyrone Taylor, Kolten Wong, Josh Hader: 🍺 x7

Aaron Ashby, Keston Hiura, Hoby Milner: 🍺 x5

Trevor Gott, Jonathan Davis, Victor Caratini, Jason Alexander, Freddy Peralta: 🍺 x3

Matt Bush, Brad Boxberger, Omar Narvaez, Adrian Houser: 🍺 x2

Taylor Rogers, Jandel Gustave, Brent Suter, Luke Barker, Peter Strzelecki: 🍺