Offensive outburst leads Brewers to sweep over Pirates

The Brewers swept the Pirates — extending their win streak to 12 — with another terrific offensive display, but it came with plenty of hiccups along the way.

Brandon Woodruff made the start, but warning sirens went off immediately. In the first inning, his velocity was down by over two MPH compared to his season average. He would finish after just four innings with his pitch count at 65. It wasn’t Woodruff’s sharpest start, but he maneuvered his way through that shortened workload to keep the Pirates scoreless by the time he left the game.

In the first inning, Woodruff walked Bryan Reynolds (who would go on to cause plenty of problems later) and allowed a single to Tommy Pham. Woodruff deflected a ball up the middle to shortstop Joey Ortiz, who had to adjust his body’s momentum to record the third out. It was an impressive play from Ortiz, one of many he made today.

The following inning, Woodruff again allowed multiple runners into scoring position, but a timely groundout and strikeout ended the threat. The Pirates managed to get two runners on base with two outs in the third inning, but Woodruff worked his magic again to escape unscathed.

Meanwhile, his offense broke through against Pirates’ starter Mitch Keller with a series of at-bats that must have been wildly frustrating for Keller. Anthony Seigler led off the inning with a single, but he advanced on an error. Ortiz pushed Seigler to third, and Sal Frelick followed with an RBI single to bring across the game’s first run. With two outs, William Contreras walked, opening an opportunity for Christian Yelich to bring in another run on a first-pitch swing. His single pushed the Brewers ahead 2-0.

Woodruff fired a clean inning in the fourth, and his offense responded by blowing the game open. It was a two-out rally from Milwaukee that featured consecutive hits from Ortiz, Frelick, Collins, and Contreras to light up the scoreboard with a 6-0 lead.

It was enough for Pittsburgh to pull Keller after finishing the inning. The Brewers scored those six runs on eight hits and two walks, thwarting anything Keller attempted. Those four consecutive hits in the fourth inning? They all came against different pitch types.

While it seemed like Milwaukee was off to another easy win, the Pirates managed to scrabble their way back into the game against reliever Shelby Miller. Just like Woodruff had velocity concerns in the early going, Miller had a worrisome moment himself as the training staff made a mound visit after allowing a hit and a walk to his first two batters. He remained in the game, but gave up a three-run home run to his next batter, Bryan Reynolds, as the Pirates climbed back to a much less intimidating 6-3 deficit.

At that point, Miller still hadn’t recorded an out. He allowed two more hits while recording two outs, but was unable to finish the inning. Milwaukee had to bring out Nick Mears for the final out.

The Pirates made the margin razor-thin with another surge in the top of the sixth. Reynolds took Mears deep for a two-run homer, his second long ball of the game, on a curveball that clipped the bottom of the zone.

The score was sitting at 6-5. While the Brewers seemed like they could cruise to the finish with that earlier lead, it took another outburst to truly seal the game.

In the bottom of the sixth, Ortiz and Frelick worked back-to-back walks to lead off the inning with at-bats of seven and 10 pitches, respectively. Collins dropped a sacrifice bunt to push the runners into scoring position. Then, continuing his terrific form of late, Contreras hit a ball to the right side of the infield against the shift to bring in two runs. As the Brewers jumped to another solid, 8-5 lead, Contreras celebrated as he strolled to first base. His fantastic stretch now includes a .390 batting average over his last 15 games. One of the team’s most prolific offensive threats last season, he seems like he’s back at his best.

The following inning, the Brewers put the nail in the coffin with an RBI single from Ortiz. His offense continues to improve lately, as he’s now hitting .296 over his last 30 games. Even beyond his value on offense today, he made impressive defensive efforts throughout the entire game.

After the Brewers loaded the bases again, Contreras walked to push across another run. Yelich came through with an RBI single to make it 12-5, which would ultimately be the final score.

Jared Koenig pitched a scoreless seventh inning and Tobias Myers finished the final two frames to lock up the win.

The Brewers have been impeccable lately, running their win streak to 12 games and winning free burgers for fans at George Webb restaurants in the Milwaukee area, after falling just one game short of the 12 games needed in mid-July. Ortiz reached base three times, Frelick scored four times, and Contreras knocked in four RBIs as the whole lineup continues to presents a threat.

Note on the free burgers: George Webb announced on Twitter/X that the free burgers will NOT be available immediately — instead, they plan to announce a future date for burgers tomorrow. Stay tuned to their account for that.

The Brewers get an off day to celebrate their success before getting back on the field in Cincinnati on Friday. That game is scheduled for a 5:40 p.m. first pitch with a TBD (potentially Jacob Misiorowski’s return from injury) marked for Milwaukee’s starter against the Reds’ Nick Martinez.