Brewers sweep the Reds behind spectacular pitching to take control of the NL Central
The brooms have been put to work again
Oh yeah, I’m supposed to post one of these updates after every series. Due to a scheduling oversight by GSPN’s Assistant to the Regional Manager of Blogging and Other Stuff, this week’s leaderboard update comes to you much later than usual. I offer my deepest apology.
The Brewers returned from the All-Star break the same way they ended it. Friday’s return to action saw them beat the Reds 1-0. They followed that up with a 3-0 win and a 4-3 victory in the series finale. Dominant Brewers pitching ruled the weekend as the starters and the bullpen were both excellent.
At the time I write this, the Brewers have split the first two games of a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies. After that series wraps up they’ll head back home to face the Atlanta Braves.
Master Brewer Leaderboard (through 94 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.)
Devin Williams🍺🍺🍺
We have our first three-beer series for a relief pitcher! Devin went out and earned it, that’s for sure. He recorded a scoreless 9th inning in every game to rack up three saves and five strikeouts with no baserunners allowed. Outright dominance.
Joel Payamps🍺🍺
Speaking of dominance, Joel Payamps was nearly as dominant as Devin Williams. Payamps threw scoreless innings on Friday and Saturday while striking out four Reds with no baserunners allowed. Big shoutout to the Oakland Athletics.
Elvis Peguero🍺🍺
Speaking of originally unsung heroes from off-season trades, next up on the double beer board we have Elvis Peguero. Elvis wasn’t as dominant as his bullpen mates Devin Williams and Joel Payamps, but he logged two scoreless innings of his own.
Hoby Milner🍺🍺
Hoby Milner was crucial to Sunday’s win. He was able to provide two scoreless innings in relief of Adrian Houser and Bryse Wilson to buy Payamps and Peguero a day off. By now you know about a funny moment involving Milner from the Phillies series, but we’ll talk about that tomorrow.
Corbin Burnes🍺🍺
Corbin Burnes once again looked like a Cy Young winner. On Friday, Burnes went six innings without allowing a run with a whopping 13 strikeouts. Perhaps the conversation with Matt Arnold that cleared the air on potential trade rumors has him less stressed on the mound.
Freddy Peralta🍺🍺
Freddy Peralta would have carried a no-hit bid into the 7th inning on Saturday if home plate umpires weren’t terrible. Would that have actually happened? Who knows, but Peralta’s six innings with no runs, one fraudulent hit, two walks, and six strikeouts still gave The Crew exactly what they needed.
Christian Yelich🍺
Add another excellent series to the back of Christian Yelich’s 2023 baseball card. Yelich went 4-for-12 with a walk, a double, two homers, two runs, and three RBI. In a series without much run production he produced.
William Contreras🍺
How good is William Contreras? The answer is “very good, Andrew. Very good.” Contreras finished the series 6-for-12 with a walk, one double, one homer, one run scored, and one RBI. Much like Hoby Milner, Bill has a fun moment from the Phillies series we will talk about tomorrow.
Victor Caratini🍺
Victor Caratini only went 1-for-5 in the series, but that one hit was of the game-winning variety. I don’t have any facts to back me up right now, but Caratini has to be one of the top five backup catchers in baseball. Maybe I’ll do some research on that, but this recap came two games into a different series, so knowing me that’s a tall order.
Leaderboard through 94 games
Devin Williams: 🍺x25
Joel Payamps: 🍺x19
Christian Yelich: 🍺x17
Brian Anderson, Corbin Burnes, William Contreras: 🍺x14
Willy Adames, Joey Wiemer, Elvis Peguero, Hoby Milner: 🍺x13
Owen Miller: 🍺x12
Peter Strzelecki: 🍺x11
Rowdy Tellez, Bryse Wilson: 🍺x10
Brice Turang, Wade Miley, Freddy Peralta, Victor Caratini: 🍺x8
Julio Teheran, Colin Rea: 🍺x7
Garrett Mitchell, Adrian Houser: 🍺x5
Blake Perkins, Jesse Winker, Andruw Monasterio: 🍺x4
Jake Cousins, Eric Lauer, Trevor Megill: 🍺x3
Brandon Woodruff, Gus Varland, Javy Guerra, Tyrone Taylor, Raimel Tapia: 🍺x2
Mike Brosseau, Luke Voit, Matt Bush, Tyson Miller, Darin Ruf, Abraham Toro, J.B. Bukauskas, Jahmai Jones, Abner Uribe: 🍺