Article: Series Recap: Pirates @ Brewers - Sweep, Baby, Sweep

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Coming off several uneven performances the Brewers were looking for a “get right “ series with the Pittsburgh Pirates a team they’ve dominated historically at Miller Park, er, American Family Field to the tune of a 127- 70 (64.4%) record entering play on Monday.

April 18 - 20 Pirates @ Brewers recap

Game 1 Brewers 6 - Pirates 1

Box Score

The Return of Christian Yelich
Now this is more like it. After a roughly two-year hiatus, the Christian Yelich of old made an appearance at American Family Field and helped the Brewers take down the Pirates in game one of the three-game series. Yelich ripped a double and smacked a grand slam in what fans hope portends great things to come.

Yelich’s grand salami in the fourth capped a five-run outburst. The offense didn’t do much after that, but it didn’t have to as Eric Lauer and the bullpen held off the Pirate bats.

Mr. Thompson doesn’t know what’s about to hit him

Lauer was sharp logging six innings, five strikeouts, and one walk. His only blemish was allowing a solo home run to Pirates second baseman Diego Castillo in the top of the fourth. Lauer seems to have found a bit more juice on his fastball as mentioned by Curt Hogg just prior to the season. He is now averaging over 94 mph on his four-seamer which is more than a mile and a half faster than last year. He touched 96 on his last pitch in the third.

Lauer’s been on quite a run since mid-2021. The Brewers could have a devasting staff if he can keep it up.

Jandel Gustave, Hoby Milner, and Jose Ureña each threw an inning to close things out for Milwaukee.

 Game 2 Brewers 5 – Pirates 2

Box Score

Burnes Dominates
This is the kind of performance we almost expect from Corbin Burnes each time he steps on the mound The Brewers took the reins off Corbin allowing him to throw 107 pitches in seven innings striking out 10 batters and walking none. He did give up two solo home runs which accounted for the entirety of the Pirate offense but all in all, it was vintage Corbin Burnes.

The Brewers offense gave Burnes all the runs he would need in the second inning. After Andrew McCutchen drew a leadoff walk. Rowdy Velez jacked a 2 – 0 slider from Pirate starter JT Brubaker 424 feet into the second deck in right field. Kolton Wong followed that up with a two-run double after an error and walk allowed Lorenzo Cain and Victor Caratini on base.

Off-season acquisition, Hunter Renfroe, finally got the monkey off his back with a 402-foot homer in the bottom of the seventh to end the scoring and give the Brewers relievers a three-run cushion.

Devin Williams and Josh Hader both threw uneventful innings to earn a hold and save respectively.

Game 3 Brewers 4 – Pirates 2

box score

Woodruff Bounces Back, Crew Secures Sweep
In the final game of the series, Brandon Woodruff continued the strong run of performances from Brewers starters. He allowed three baserunners – a single from Dan “Barrel Man” Vogelbach and two harmless walks – over six innings. Woody had the Bucs off balance all game long striking out nine and helping his own cause with a nifty bare-handed play in the top of the second.

Rowdy Telez continued his fine start to the season by cranking his second homer in as many games putting the Brewers up 1 – 0 after two.

The single run was all the Brewers could muster through six innings. In the seventh the Brewers led off with a Hunter Renfroe cue shot down the right-field line that went for a double. Omar Narvaez followed that up with a wounded duck to center and advanced to second on the throw putting men on second and third. Keston Hiura then jumped on a 3 – 1 four-seamer from Pirates reliever Miguel Yajure and smoked an opposite-field liner over the wall in right for his first home run of the year. After showing signs of life in spring, fans have been waiting for Keston to show up. His timing was impeccable.

After giving up two singles to start the eight, Brent Suter was able to get two outs before moving aside for Devin Williams. Williams has been a bit shaky, to say the least, this year. He walked the always dangerous Bryan Reynolds to load the bases before giving up a two-run single to Ke’Bryan Hayes. He got out of the inning with no further damage by striking out Yoski Tsutsugo looking on a gnarly 83 mph changeup. Hopefully, Williams can find the zone with that changeup going forward. Josh Hader came on in the ninth to earn his second save of the series and finish off the sweep. Hader already has six saves on the young season.

Up Next
Pitching, defense, and power were all on display for the Brewers as they swept Pittsburgh. Winners of four straight, the Crew look to keep it going in a three-game set at Philadelphia that kicks off on Friday.

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