Covering the bases 8/25/2025: Brewers 7, D'backs 5
Following an emotional weekend and a week of adversity following the club-record 14-game winning streak, the Milwaukee Brewers got back on track with a 7-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday at American Family Field to open a four-game series. The Brewers officially are guaranteed a winning season after posting their MLB-leading 82 wins (in 132 games) with six more days left in August. They increased their NL Central lead over the second-place Chicago Cubs to 5½ games. The Cubs were off Monday before beginning a three-game road trip in San Francisco against the Giants, who just took two of three from the Crew.
FIRST BASE: One big inning
The contact-first Brewers strung together six hits to start the third inning and added a walk. That is all it took to break open a scoreless game. Isaac Collins opened the third with a double and moved to third on Blake Perkins' single. Andruw Monasterio and Brice Turang had back-to-back RBI singles, then William Contreras singled to reload the bases. Christian Yelich capped the hit parade with a two-run single, then Andrew Vaughn walked. Sal Frelick finished the scoring with an RBI groundout to make it 5-0. It was the Brewers' MLB-best 46th inning of four or more runs.
SECOND BASE: Woodruff was terrific, until ...
It is now becoming the expectation that Brandon Woodruff turns in an ace-like performance. Only this one came with an unexpected twist. Woodruff took a one-hit shutout into the sixth inning, but then he coughed up four hits and five runs to put a blemish on this outing. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a three-run homer for the D'backs. Woodruff finished with eight strikeouts, a walk and a hit batter.
THIRD BASE: Uribe, bullpen shut the door
With closer Trevor Megill unavailable after blowing saves in two of the previous three days, setup man Abner Uribe stepped in to take the save situation. Uribe lived up to his reputation as a future closer and retired the D'backs in order, including making a nifty defensive play and backhand shovel to first for the game's final out. It was Uribe's third save of the season and seventh of his career. It capped a terrific day for the bullpen, as left-hander Aaron Ashby allowed one hit in 1⅔ innings and Nick Mears retired the only two batters he faced.
HOME PLATE: Monasterio and Durbin go deep
The bottom of the order for the Brewers is not a black hole. While the order and names change, the bottom half seems to come through when needed. On Monday, it was home runs by Monasterio in the fourth inning to make it 6-0 and Caleb Durbin hit a huge insurance homer after the D'backs made it tight, a solo shot in the eighth inning. It was the first time during his rookie season that Durbin hit homers in back-to-back games.
EXTRA BASES: Big test for Miz
⚾ Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski (4-2, 4.19 ERA) faces a critical start following a few subpar outings. In his last three starts, including the one before he went on the injured list, the Miz has gone four, 1⅓ and four innings (9⅓), allowing 11 runs on eight hits and eight walks with 15 strikeouts. He goes against D'backs right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (12-8, 4.95 ERA), who has had an up-and-down last seven starts. He has allowed two or fewer runs in four starts, while also have games yielding four and seven runs.
⚾ The Brewers made a few transactions before the game. Right-handed reliever Grant Anderson went on the 10-day injured list and right-handed starter Chad Patrick were sent to Triple-A Nashville. Replacing them are right-handers Tobias Myers and Easton McGee, both coming up from the Sounds. The move with Patrick was expected as he took a spot start Sunday to give the rotation an extra day of rest during this stretch of 19 games in 18 days, which concludes next week Monday.
