Covering the bases 9/1/2025: Brewers 16, Nationals 9
Beginning a six-game road trip, the Milwaukee Brewers pounded out a season-high 25 hits in a 16-9 victory over the Washington Nationals in the opener of a three-game series. The 25 hits surpassed the previous season best of 23 set May 31 in a 17-7 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Combined with the Chicago Cubs' 1-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles, the Brewers remain one game ahead of the Cubs in the NL Central and still hold MLB's best record at 65-44.
It was also the national TV debut of manager Pat Murphy's pocket pancake, something Brewers fans have certainly heard of previously (even if it was a plant by the Apple TV+ crew).
FIRST BASE: Quintana rebounds
After giving up nine runs over 11 innings in his previous two starts and three or more runs in four of his last five, Brewers left-hander Jose Quintana was on the spot entering Friday's start. He had a solid outing vs. the Nationals, allowing six hits and two runs with two walks and four strikeouts. He is now 8-4 with a 3.50 ERA. His next start is likely to come Wednesday in the series finale against Atlanta.
SECOND BASE: Good starts
Catcher Danny Jansen and outfielder Brandon Lockridge made their first starts since being acquired by the Brewers in separate trades this week and both had nice days at the plate. Jansen, who came in to pinch-hit in Wednesday's series finale vs. the Chicago Cubs, went 1-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Lockridge was put into the lineup as the leadoff hitter and playing right field after being acquired Thursday in the deal for left-hander Nestor Cortes. Lockridge went 2-for-6 with a walk and a run scored.
THIRD BASE: Contreras crushes
Coming off a two-homer game Wednesday vs. the Cubs, William Contreras followed up with his first career five-hit game. Contreras served as the Brewers' designated hitter with Jansen getting the start behind the plate, a combo you might see more often the rest of the way. He had singles in the first, third and fourth innings, then homered in the seventh and doubled in the eighth. Contreras beat out a grounder to shortop on a potential double play, beating the relay to first. He came up for a seventh time in the ninth inning, but hit another grounder that the Nationals couldn't convert into a double play. He finished with two RBIs, but the 5-for-7 performance raised his batting average from .253 to .261, to go along with nine homers.
HOME PLATE: Perkins' pop
Blake Perkins appears to be finding his stride offensively. The center fielder hit his first two homers of the season, a solo homer in the top of the second inning to tie the game 1-1, then a two-run shot in the top of the fifth inning that boosted the Crew's lead to 8-2. Homers aren't a big part of Perkins' game as he entered Friday with 10 homers in 631 career plate appearances. But it was his turn to find a little pop. Hitting out of the No. 7 spot, Perkins combined with No. 8 hitter Andruw Montasterio (4-for-6) and No. 9 hitter Joey Ortiz (3-for-6) to go 9-for-18 with eight RBIs and four runs scored.
EXTRA BASES
⚾ Outfielder Jackson Chourio could miss a month with a strained right hamstring. He was placed on the 10-day injured list. The injury was originally described as a cramp after Wednesday's game, but once more testing was done, the severity became more obvious, quite a blow for the offense.
⚾ Anthony Seigler got his first action with the Brewers behind the plate, catching Easton McGee in the ninth inning.
⚾ Many folks don't like that games are on Apple+ TV. Friday's broadcast didn't help any. Play-by-play announcer Alex Faust and analyst Ryan Spilborghs a few times misidentified Brewers players – like Faust saying "Freddy Peralta" when he meant to say Quintana. Faust is used to juggling new rosters since he also calls MLB games for TBS (like top Brewers announcer Brian Anderson) and NHL games for TNT. But there were multiple errors during this broadcast.
