Photo: Megan Ellis / Unsplash
By Charles Collier
The Brewers have been as hot as fish grease! They’ve won five of their last six games. These victories include a July 9th extra-inning nailbiter (3-2) over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Rookie first baseman Andrew Vaughn hit a game-tying single in the ninth against reliever Tanner Scott. In the tenth, star-in-the-making Jackson Chourio hit a single against reliever Kirby Yates, scoring Sal Frelick. It was the first walk-off hit of Chourio’s young career, and it was the Brewers first home sweep of the Dodgers ever. After the win, an ecstatic Chourio shared his happiness, saying “It was an incredible moment … I’m happy that we were able to finish the sweep off with that hit. It’s special. It’s a great group of guys here.”
Our “Brew Crew” totally dominated the “Blue Crew” in the series, outscoring them 15-4 over three games. For the Dodgers, the 3-2 loss was their sixth loss in a row, their longest losing streak since April 19, 2019. The Dodgers manager grasped for something positive to say, after the loss, noting that “Tyler Glasnow pitched well. His pitch count got up there, so five innings is what he gave us. I thought that was a positive coming out of today. We had them where we wanted them. We just couldn’t finish it.”
The Brewers have been hitting the cover off the baseball. As of July 10th, Christian Yelich has a 21-game on-base streak. His clutch hitting is a major reason the Brewers swept the Dodgers. Timely hitting from Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn was also important to the outcome of the series. Andrew Vaughn drove in runs in all three games against the Dodgers.
On July 6th, Brandon Woodruff made his emotional return to the Brewers. It was his first start in 652 days. He was coming back from right shoulder surgery and a grueling rehab process that was made even longer by ankle tendonitis and a line drive off the elbow. Nonetheless, he pitched outstandingly and beat the Marlins 3-1. The “Big Woo” pitched 6 innings, allowed 1 earned run, and no walks. In addition, he struck out 8 Marlins’ batters. If Woodruff continues pitching well, the Brewers will have three top pitchers to compete: Brandon Woodruff, Freddy “Fastball” Peralta, and Jacob Misiorowski.
Young rookie sensation Misiorowski has been the talk of Major League Baseball. On July 8, he beat the future first-ballot Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw in a game nationally televised on the TBS network. Misiorowski pitched 6 innings, allowed 1 run, walked 1 batter, and struck out 12. After the game, Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez had this to say about the Brewers rookie pitcher: “It was beautiful, He has all the stuff you don’t like (if you are hitting).” With the win, Misiorowski improved his record to 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA.
The Brewers seem special this year. I predict that they are on course to meet the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series . . . and the winner will face the American League’s Detroit Tigers in the World Series.