Yelich sums up the twists, turns and countless story lines that go into a single season
Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich sums up the twists, turns and countless story lines that go into a single baseball season.
Christian Yelich homered as part of an early backing from the offense of Freddy Peralta, who looked as sharp as he has in some time for his 17th win of the season in a 9-2 Milwaukee Brewers victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sept. 16 at American Family Field.
A two-run blast from Yelich in the fourth gave the Brewers a 5-0 lead that was more than enough for Peralta, who all but ensured he will finish the season with the most wins in the National League.
Every Brewers batter got a hit except for Joey Ortiz, with Yelich leading the way with three while William Contreras, Andrew Vaughn and Caleb Durbin each had two apiece and drove in at least one run.
BOX SCORE: Brewers 9, Angels 2
A three-run eighth put the game out of reach against Los Angeles reliever Sammy Peralta with consecutive singles from Jackson Chourio, Yelich and Contreras pushing the lead to seven.
Milwaukee dropped its magic number to clinch the National League Central to seven with 11 games to play.
Masterful performance from Freddy Peralta
The down-in-the-dumps Angels lineup was no match for Peralta.
With the highest strikeout rate in baseball this year by far at 26.8% and the third-lowest OPS since Aug. 1, the Angels whiffed 20 times on their way to double-digit strikeouts against Peralta, who reached that mark for the 15th time in his career and the first in 2025.
The lone blemish for Peralta, who walked two and gave up two hits, was the first career home run for 21-year-old Denzer Guzman with one out in the fifth. Peralta came back out for the sixth and struck out the Angels’ three best hitters — Mike Trout, Taylor Ward and Jo Adell, who have a combined 88 homers among them this year — on a slider and two changeups.
The first seven strikeouts of the night for Peralta came via the fastball, which generated 12 whiffs in total.
Peralta lowered his season earned run average by four points to a career-best 2.65 with two more starts likely left. He also tied New York Yankees lefty Max Fried for the MLB lead in wins and is three clear of the next-highest total in the National League, belonging to Philadelphia’s Jesús Luzardo, who likely only has two starts left.
Christian Yelich nearing a couple of round numbers
Thanks to an incredible at-bat that ended with a 409-foot blast to straightaway center, Yelich is one swing away from notching his first 30-homer season since he hit 44 in 2019.
Yelich, who had already doubled and lined out sharply on the evening, battled to a full count with two outs in the fourth before getting a changeup on the outside corner that he stayed back on just enough to send over the wall.
The Brewers designated hitter already has his first 20-homer campaign since 2019 and is one RBI shy of 100, which he hasn’t reached since 2018.
Yelich double opened the scoring during a single-tally affair
Facing 21-year-old righty Caden Dana, making his third start of the year, the Brewers brought out the bats in the first inning.
Jackson Chourio started things off with a one-out walk — only his third four-pitch walk of the year — before moving to second on a wild pitch and scoring on Yelich’s frozen rope double to right.
Yelich, however, got picked off of second by Dana, which cost the Brewers at least two runs. A Brice Turang two-out double would have plated him, then Andrew Vaughn’s fly to right for the final out would have otherwise been a sac fly.
Some typical Brewers ball made it a 2-0 game in the second as Caleb Durbin and Blake Perkins each singled and stole second before Sal Frelick drove the former in with a sac fly. Another solo tally dropped in the third with a two-out rally that included singles by Vaughn and Durbin to score William Contreras.
What time is the Brewers game today?
Time: 6:40 p.m.
What channel is the Brewers game on today?
TV channel: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin.
Brewers 2025 record
91-59 (best in the major leagues, 5-game lead in the National League Central Division).
Brewers magic number
The Brewers magic number to clinch the NL Central a combination of eight wins and/or Cubs losses.
Brewers lineupSal Frelick RFJackson Chourio LFChristian Yelich DHWilliam Contreras CBrice Turang 2BAndrew Vaughn 1BCaleb Durbin 3BBlake Perkins CFJoey Ortiz SSAngels lineupOswald Peraza 3BMike Trout DHTaylor Ward LFJo Adell RFLogan O’Hoppe CChristian Moore 2BCarter Kieboom 1BDenzer Guzman SSBryce Teodoslo CFBrewers schedule
Brewers vs. Angels, Sept. 17, 6:40 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Brandon Woodruff (6-2, 3.32) vs. Los Angeles RHP José Soriano (10-10, 4.13). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers vs. Angels, Sept. 18, 6:40 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Quinn Priester (13-2, 3.25) vs. Los Angeles LHP Yusei Kikuchi (6-11, 4.08). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.