The Milwaukee Brewers secured a sweep over the Philadelphia Phillies with their 5-2 win on Sunday afternoon.
The early going was uneven in Jose Quintana’s start, but he ultimately put together a solid outing with a surprising helping of early strikeouts. The Phillies scored a run against him in the early frame when Trea Turner led off with a walk. Turner stole both second base and third base, providing an opportunity for JT Realmuto to poke an RBI single into the opposite field. With another walk mixed in, it looked like an unsteady beginning, but Quintana worked a strikeout for all three outs in the opening inning.
The next inning was another nerve-wracking one with Quintana walking two straight batters with just one out. After the lead runner, Bryson Stott, tagged up to third, Kyle Schwarber brought home the run in awkward fashion. A check swing sent the ball into a deadzone where no player could make an easy play, giving the Phillies an early 2-0 lead.
These early runs were the only ones Quintana would allow, pitching five innings with four hits, four walks, and three strikeouts. While that’s not exactly a dominant outing, what goes unnoticed in this box score is how Quintana kept the ball in the infield nearly the entire game. The Phillies struggled to create any momentum outside of the free passes.
It took a while for the Brewers to heat up on offense since they were also struggling to get the ball off the ground. Facing off against Phillies starter Ranger Suarez, the Brewers went scoreless through four innings despite plenty of traffic. A few defensive misplays and close diving attempts gave the Brewers some baserunners, but it didn’t culminate in any runs until the fifth. At some points, the Phillies fans were even booing their team after this weekend’s display.
Joey Ortiz doubled to left field when the ball deflected off third baseman Edmundo Sosa. Brice Turang singled to put runners on the corners. With another strange display of infield baseball, Jackson Chourio scored the Brewers’ first run with a chopped groundball to first base. Sosa decided against testing the throw to home plate, instead securing the lead out at second. The Brewers trailed 2-1.
Their breakout came a few innings later when another Phillies misplay gave the Brewers their best chance yet. Caleb Durbin led off with a double when left fielder Weston Wilson drastically misjudged the flight of the ball. It was not only a free runner, but one in scoring position too. That was enough to force the Phillies’ hand and pull Suarez from the game for reliever Orion Kerkering. He would end up walking Turang. A groundball from Chourio gave the Phillies an out at second, but pushed Durbin to third.
When William Contreras then hit a groundball to shortstop, it looked like the inning would end, but Turner misplayed the bounce, giving the Brewers an equal 2-2 scoreline. Jake Bauers entered as a pinch hitter for Eric Haase, and he finally found the decisive moment with a double down into the right field corner, sending home another two runs.
In the ninth, the Brewers tacked on another insurance run against Phillies closer Jordan Romano. Ortiz led off with a walk and a stolen base, giving Turang a golden opportunity for an RBI. He came through with his second hit of the game, a sharp line drive into shallow right field. Ortiz easily scored from second, sending the Brewers up 5-2.
Milwaukee’s bullpen provided another excellent outing, easing through the final half of the game. Nick Mears was first out of the ‘pen to relieve Quintana in the sixth inning. After a hard out on a line drive to Ortiz, Mears got a strikeout looking and a lazy fly to centerfield to finish the frame.
Jared Koenig was next to fire a clean inning. He allowed a double to Turner, but once again provided clean opportunities for his fielders to end the inning without any damage. Abner Uribe finished off the eighth with a three up, three down performance.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Phillies tried one last rally against closer Trevor Megill. He surrendered a leadoff single to Brandon Marsh on an inside pitch. Marsh was somehow able to get the ball into left field on a full-count hit.
Stott sprayed a ball into foul territory where Daz Cameron secured an out against the wall. The runner advanced, but with a three run lead, that’s a concession the Brewers would be happy to make.
Koenig led off Max Kepler with a triple-digit fastball down the middle and another fastball on the edge that Kepler fouled off. A ball barely missed the high-and-away corner. After another foul, finally Kepler bit on a knuckle curve below the zone on a failed check swing.
He continued to attack the zone against Turner, forcing him to swing at a curveball tight on the inside edge of the zone and a dipping curve low-and-away. With the batter forced to bite in a two-pitch count, Koenig induced an easy fly ball on a fastball just above the zone. Rhys Hoskins made the out in foul territory to lock up the save.
It was another convincing win for the Brew Crew who now boast a seven game winning streak. After breaking through that early season malaise, the Brewers are right back in the mix as a legitimate Wild Card threat, currently sitting two games outside of playoff position. After a strong finish to May, they’ve carried their mojo into the new month as they now head to Cincinnati.
Tomorrow’s game starts at 6:10 p.m. CDT. Aaron Civale is set to take the mound against Brady Singer.