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Jacob Misiorowski explains his work with a Tidal Tank and what it does

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski explains his work with a Tidal Tank and what it does to improve his game.

‘Get in and get hot,’ the adage goes in baseball. The Milwaukee Brewers have taken care of the first part. The second part? Not so much.

With a 3-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Sept. 26, the 22nd sellout crowd of the season at American Family Field watched on as the Brewers lost for the fifth time in a span of seven games for only the second time since the middle of May.

Any hopes of securing homefield advantage throughout the postseason were put on hold for at least one more night with the Philadelphia Phillies victorious. 

BOX SCORE: Reds 3, Brewers 1

The loss was the first for the Brewers in the last 20 outings made by right-hander Quinn Priester, a remarkable streak that came to a close in his final tune-up before making his first postseason start, likely in Game 2 of the National League Division Series.

How much it actually matters is up for debate, but what’s not is that the Brewers, especially on offense, have hit a lull as the regular season wraps up. 

In this stretch for Milwaukee, its offense, which went hitless after the fourth inning against the Reds, has failed to score more than three runs in regulation and has only reached that number twice. 

The bats went without a home run again, leaving the Brewers at two home runs hit during these past seven games and 15 in September, third-worst in the majors. 

“It certainly hasn’t been a juggernaut, that’s for sure,” manager Pat Murphy said of his offense’s malaise. “We’ve tried some different things, we’ve moved some things around, given some guys opportunities to play, giving some guys rest here and there. But we haven’t played our normal, typciall, ball-strike, grind-it-out game.”

Perhaps it’s merely a team way out in front in the standings taking its foot off the gas for the first time in four months, or maybe it’s a harbinger of offensive potholes that lie ahead in the road for an offense that has only finished outside the bottom 10 in baseball in homers one month this year. 

“It’s hard to stay hungry,” Murphy said. “When you have a whole bunch of cookies and a whole bunch of food, and someone says, ‘Hey do you want a little more?’ you say no because you’re not hungry. It’s hard to stay hungry if you’re full.

“This is important to play right. We understand the ramifications ofthe games are not the same, but it’s important to play right and grind out ABs and get to first and get your mind on that. It’s hard.”

The good news is that for the Brewers, the playoffs aren’t right around the doorstep as they would be for the Reds, who drew even with the New York Mets for the final National League wild card spot with the win. Milwaukee’s playoff opener isn’t until Oct. 4. 

A weeklong reset sounds just like what the Brewers need.

“I think this year we really need it,” said Christian Yelich. “For our team, just dealing what we’ve been dealing with, I think we’re really going to need to those few days. It’ll be nice.”

Reds jump in front in sixth

Hard contact and a misplay in the outfield put the hungry Reds, who surely saw on the out-of-town scoreboard in left field that the Mets were losing, ahead in the sixth.

Some sheer bad luck helped them break open a bigger lead.

For the second time in three innings, Priester allowed a leadoff double to Kenosha native Gavin Lux, who took third when Jake Bauers missed the ball in left. Miguel Andujar’s ensuing smashed single gave Cincinnati its first lead of the game.

Lux is now batting .269/.345/.500 across 15 games with seven extra-base hits in Milwaukee in his career.

The Reds got a friendly bounce when Elly De La Cruz’s tailor-made double play grounder ricocheted off of second base, putting runners on the corners and ending Priester’s outing. The inning otherwise would have come to an end when Nick Mears struck out Spencer Steer, but the bounce from De La Cruz’s hit allowed Tyler Stephenson a chance at-bat, and the Reds catcher lofted a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.

Priester finished with three runs on his ledger for the first time since Aug. 10 when he gave up six to the Mets. That day, the right-hander’s offense picked him up and rallied from a four-run deficit to win, the same result the Brewers had in every one of Priester’s outings since May 24.

“Frustrated, obivously,” Priester said. “I would have liked to have handled the sixth a lot better. Some unlucky stuff goes on there, too but it all kind of starts with falling behind Lux there. Need to do a better job in that spot. I didnd’t have my best stuff. I was trying to find the sinker there. Got to a spot where we could compete and get outs, but need to stay on the gas there in the sixth and do a better job.”

Christian Yelich, Brice Turang team up for first run but Reds answer back

Flipped to the leadoff spot in the order for the third straight game — an idea manager Pat Murphy is testing out ahead of the playoffs — Christian Yelich doubled and scored in the third on Brice Turang’s two-out single up the middle.

Yelich remains one homer shy of hitting 30 in a season for the first time since 2019.

The lead didn’t last long. Lux led off the fourth with a ringing double off the left-field wall and scored following singles from Miguel Andujar and Spencer Steer.

The Reds loaded the bases but Priester was able to wiggle off the hook by inducing a Ke’Bryan Hayes double play grounder to keep the game tied, 1-1.

The double play was started by Joey Oritz, who struggled again at the plate but had a spectacular game with the glove, making three separate incredible, ranging plays at shortstop.

Jackson Chourio makes MLB history

With his steal of second in the bottom of the first, Jackson Chourio became the youngest player in Major League Baseball history to record two 20/20 seasons with home runs and steals.

Chourio, who now has 20 of each this season and smacked 21 homers and stole 22 bags as a rookie last year, surpassed Mike Trout as the youngest to ever do it twice. Trout reached his second 20/20 campaign on the day he turend 22; Chourio will be 21 until March 11, 2026.

“Just very happy to reach 20/20 for the second year in a row,” Chourio said. “It’s a grand blessing to have. Very happy about that.”

A hamstring injury that sidelined Chourio for nearly the entirety of August slowed down his progress in what was shaping up to be an even more special year with the bat. With two games remaining in the regular season, he’s batting .269 with a .766 OPS, slight decreases in production from his rookie year.

“I think it’s an overally a very positive year again,” Chourio said. “I think this year I had to overcome some more adversity with the injury, and getting to overcome that is rewarding in its own sense. That was the first time, really, I’ve ever gone through anything like that. So just being able to push through and come back as the best version of myself brings me a lot of satisfaction.”

What time is the Brewers game today?

Time: 7:10 p.m.

What channel is the Brewers game on today?

TV channel: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin.

Brewers 2025 record

96-63 (clinched NL Central title)

Brewers magic number

The Brewers’ magic number to clinch the best record in the major leagues is down to one over the Phillies for home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

Brewers lineupChristian Yelich, DHJackson Chourio, CFBrice Turang, 2BWilliam Contreras, CSal Frelick, RFAndrew Vaughn, 1BJake Bauers. LFAndruw Monasterio, 3BJoey Ortiz, SSPhillies lineupTJ Friedl, CFNoelvi Marte, RFGavin Lux, LFMiguel Andujar, DHElly De La Cruz, SSSpencer Steer, 1BTyler Stephenson, CKe’Bryan Hayes, 3BMatt McLain, 2BBrewers schedule

Brewers vs. Reds, Sept. 27, 6:15 p.m.: Milwaukee TBA vs. Cincinnati LHP Andrew Abbott (9-7, 2.80). TV – Fox. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.

Brewers vs. Reds, Sept. 28, 2:10 p.m.: Milwaukee TBA vs. Cincinnati RHP Brady Singer (14-11, 3.95). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.