Covering the bases 9/12/2025: Brewers 8, Cardinals 2 (90 wins)
After getting swept on the road by the Texas Rangers, the Milwaukee Brewers returned home and got back to their winning ways. The Brewers became the first team in MLB to win 90 games with an 8-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday at American Family Field. The Brewers remained 5½ games ahead of the second-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. The Cubs beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-4. The Brewers' magic number for clinching a playoff spot is down to two and the magic number for winning the NL Central is 10. They are two games up on the Philadelphia Phillies for the No. 1 seed in the NL.
FIRST BASE: Bullpen bounces back
With the starting pitching going deeper in games during the last week, the bullpen has gotten some much-deserved rest after handling a huge workload in recent months. Left-hander Aaron Ashby came in to get the final two outs of the sixth and pitched the seventh, then left-hander Jared Koenig took the eighth and yet another lefty in Rob Zystryzny finished the ninth. They didn't allow a run over the final 3⅔ innings, although they did allow six baserunners.
SECOND BASE: Yelich goes yard
Christian Yelich is going to be a key to the Brewers' offense in the postseason, so getting him going before then will be key. Yelich has hit the ball hard without much in terms of results since returning from missing a few games with a cranky back. So it was good to see Yelich hit a two-run homer off the center-field scoreboard. It was Yelich's 28th homer of the season.
THIRD BASE: Chaos returns
Call it what you want, but the Brewers are at their best when they are forcing the other team to make plays. That was on display in the bottom of the third inning, when they broke open a scoreless game with yet another four-run outburst – this one coming with only one hit, a bunt. Jake Bauers and Caleb Durbin drew walks to open the third, then Joey Ortiz had a bunt single to load the bases. Sal Frelick walked to force in the game's first run. Jackson Chourio then lofted a fly ball to right field. Right fielder Jordan Walker's throw home hit Durbin in the helmet as he was sliding into home, with the ball deflecting away and allowing Ortiz to score from second to make it 3-0. Brice Turang plated Frelick with a groundout to first, a play in which the throw home was dropped by the catcher trying to make a sweep tag.
HOME PLATE: Pretty good, Priester
You have just come to expect outings like Friday's when Brewers right-hander Quinn Priester takes the mound. Priester's surprising season continued, extending his club-record personal winning streak to 12 with 5⅓ innings, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts. The Brewers have not lost in Priester's last 18 outings.
EXTRA BASES: Rotation shakeup
⚾ With the starting rotation already getting two extra days off between starts this week with a spot outing by Chad Patrick and Thursday's day off, the Brewers further scrambled their rotation for this weekend. Right-hander Brandon Woodruff, originally scheduled to start Saturday, will now get extra time off and go Wednesday. Jacob Misiorowski, slated to start Sunday, will not start Saturday and left-hander Jose Quintana on Sunday. The Brewers have another day off Monday before opening a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels. Misiowowski (5-2, 4.09 ERA) will square off with Cardinals right-hander Sonny Gray (13-8, 4.45 ERA). Misiorowski had one of the best starts in his 12-game MLB career his last time out. The Miz threw a 108 pitches to cover seven innings – both the most in his brief MLB career – allowing one run on three hits and two walks with eight strikeouts.
