Brewers take series opener in Philadelphia, 6-2

Yelich homers twice as Milwaukee extends their win streak to five games

Box Score

The Brewers defeated the Phillies today, 6-2, in what was ultimately the most convincing win of their now five-game win streak.

Milwaukee jumped on Phillies starter Taijuan Walker right out of the gate. Brice Turang led the game off with a double. Jackson Chourio then singled on a line drive to left fielder Max Kepler, putting runners at the corners. After Christian Yelich struck out, Chourio stole second. That put two runners in scoring position for catcher William Contreras, who did just enough.

Contreras hit a weak dribbler down the first base line, but catcher JT Realmuto had to come out and field it. Walker wouldn’t have been able to cover in time, so Realmuto got the out at first, allowing Turang to score the first run of the game and giving the Brewers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

The next batter up was Sal Frelick, coming off a three-hit game in the series finale against the Red Sox. Frelick promptly hit a hard line drive up the middle, scoring Chourio to make it 2-0 Milwaukee. Walker then struck out Rhys Hoskins to get out of the inning.

DL Hall, opening for Quinn Priester, came out with guns blazing. His fastball was touching 95, hitting 96 on a strikeout pitch to Reds slugger Nick Castellanos. Hall gave up one ball that could have, maybe even should have, been a hit. It wasn’t, though, because Jackson Chourio had his back.

Hall didn’t allow a hit through three innings pitched and retired the side in the first two innings. The only baserunner Hall allowed all game was Reds centerfielder Brandon Marsh, whom he walked. It was a dominant performance from the left-hander, who has impressed in two outings (5 ¹⁄₃ innings) since returning from injury. Manager Pat Murphy has to be ecstatic that he now gets to use Hall and Aaron Ashby out of the bullpen in high-leverage long-relief situations.

The Brewers couldn’t get much going in the next few innings against Walker. Isaac Collins, Caleb Durbin, and Joey Ortiz went three-up, three-down in the second. Yelich and Contreras hit two-out singles in the third, but Sal Frelick flew out to strand them on base. Caleb Durbin doubled on a grounder down the third base line, which he seemingly does every game now, but Joey Ortiz struck out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the fourth, Quinn Priester replaced Hall. He immediately gave up a single to Trea Turner and a hard-hit double to Kyle Schwarber, scoring the speedy Turner. It initially looked like Murphy had miscalculated in pulling Hall (who was most likely on a pitch count) after only three innings. However, Priester settled in nicely from there. He got three straight groundouts to get out of the inning.

That was the only inning in which Priester would be working with little run support. Brice Turang, facing a visibly fatigued Walker, led off the fifth with a walk. Jackson Chourio hit a double down the left field line, after which Phillies manager Rob Thomson had seen enough.

His replacement, lefty Tanner Banks, wouldn’t fare any better. Yelich, the next batter, was hitting just .147 this season against left-handers. Nobody told him that, though.

After a Contreras single, Marsh was able to bear down and retire the next three batters, but the damage was done. Yeli’s three-run laser made it 5-1, Milwaukee.

As it turns out, Priester barely needed the run support. Other than a couple of mistakes (a Schwarber double and a Castellanos solo home run), Priester completely shut down the Phillies’ offense. He got Phillies hitters to make weak contact on ground ball after ground ball, allowing just those two hits over the next five innings. He ended up going the last six innings of the game, allowing just two earned runs and picking up the win.

The final score? 6-2, courtesy of a Yelich solo shot — his second home run of the game — in the top of the eighth. The first homer was a line drive that carried, but the second was absolutely obliterated.

Hall and Priester combined for a dominant pitching performance, giving the overworked bullpen a second straight rest day. Four Brewers (Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich, William Contreras, and Sal Frelick) had multiple hits. Most importantly, Yelich, who seems to start slow every year, seems to be back.

Even after today’s loss, Philadelphia still has the best record in the National League. For a team that couldn’t get anything going at the plate mere weeks ago, today’s game was incredibly encouraging. What’s even more encouraging is that the Brewers seem to be building momentum. Baseball will always be a game of ups and downs, and the Crew looks to be on the upswing.

Milwaukee is now on a five-game win streak, their first of the season. They’ll look to make it six against Jesus Luzardo and the Phillies tomorrow afternoon. First pitch will be at 3:05 p.m., with the game broadcast on FanDuel Sports Wisconsin, FS1, and the Brewers Radio Network.