GREEN BAY (WLUK) — Thursday’s series finale with the Toronto Blue Jays might have been the spark the Milwaukee Brewers needed to find their footing.

In the 2-1 win, Brewers reliever Trevor Megill, who had been struggling immensely to start the season with a 14.40 ERA over five innings of work, entered the game in the eighth inning to the tune of a 1-2-3 outing. That was his first of the young season in six appearances.

Leaving the mound, Megill got into it with Toronto slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr., exchanging words as both teams headed to the dugout. It stemmed from earlier in the inning, when the 6’8″ right-hander rubbed the baseball on his leg, then proceeded to stare down the Blue Jays dugout following his inning-ending strikeout.

The response from the Milwaukee faithful for Megill, who allowed seven runs over his last two outings, is exactly what makes Brewers fans some of the best in the game.

“Very much appreciate it from the Milwaukee crowd, man. It’s been a rough last two and that was great to see,” said Megill.

On the other side, after winning the American League pennant last year, the Blue Jays have been struggling out of the gate in 2026, tied for the worst record in the AL East division after Thursday. Frustration had been circulating after scoring just one run through eight innings, and manager John Schneider was less than pleased with Megill’s antics.

“As a person, you don’t appreciate when another grown man yells what he did in your face. So, you just kind of react in the moment. But we’ve got other stuff to worry about other than that. He’s got other stuff to worry about. I’ve got other stuff to worry about. Our team’s got other stuff to worry about. We’re kind both in the same place right now, us and them. So, heat of the moment. No big deal,” he said.

Building momentum on the bump

Despite earning a no-decision, RHP Brandon Sproat put on one of the best performances of his young career Thursday, twirling 6.2 innings of four-hit, one-run baseball, striking out six batters along the way.

“I think the biggest thing was just keep the rhythm up. Just get the ball and go. Don’t think about anything else. Just attack, attack, attack,” Sproat said. “I thought we did a really good job of that [Thursday].”

“I’m capable of going out there and making good pitches, capable of going out there and getting a ground ball when needed, going out there and just giving it my all. That was the big word that [Murphy] told me. He said, ‘You’re more than capable’ and hearing that from him is definitely a boost of confidence,” he added.

Small ball (usually) never fails

Not only was the pitching staff on their Ps and Qs, but the approach at the plate looked very Brewers-y. According to FanGraphs, a leadoff walk comes around the score almost 38% of the time. That’s exactly how Milwaukee began the seventh inning Thursday in a 1-1 game. Then came managerial brilliance.

Three-straight bunts — one for a base hit that bamboozled the Blue Jays’ infield and enabled the Brewers to bring across what would be the game-winning run off the bat of shortstop Joey Ortiz.

Taking care of business on the road

Thursday’s win was the second-straight for the Crew on the back-end of a six-game losing streak. Milwaukee now begins a six-game road trip with three in Miami and three in Detroit, getting Monday as an off-day to travel.

Manager Pat Murphy spoke on MLB Network’s “Intentional Talk” Friday ahead of the series opener with the Marlins at Loan Depot Park. His message: It’s been a rocky start, but there’s good on the way.

“We’ve been up and down. We’re really not locked in the way we need to be. We’ve had a lot of adversity already, injuries-wise, [with] three of our top five hitters out of our lineup. It makes it tough. A couple of really important pitchers are out, but everybody’s dealing with it. But we just haven’t clicked yet. We’ve done some good things, we’ve got a great group of guys, but we’re a long way away from where we want to be,” Murphy said.

First pitch between the Brewers and Marlins is set for 6:10 CT Friday night before 3:10 CT and 12:40 CT starts Saturday and Sunday, respectively.