Red-hot offense ties a franchise record
BALTIMORE – The season is hardly two weeks old, yet the Milwaukee Brewers seem to already be taking on the approach of their manager, Pat Murphy.
They're easygoing yet tough. They wear opponents down. They preach mental discipline and cohesiveness.
And, at least so far, they win baseball games.
As the Brewers rolled to an 11-5 comeback win over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, they displayed the very identity Murphy wants to see.
The Brewers don't have a cast of household names, and even many of their most recognizable ones are injured. They don't have proven contributors up and down the roster. And yet, piece by piece, one game after the other they continue to stack solid performances early in the season and now own the National League's best record at 10-3.
How committed are the Brewers and Murphy to their identity this year?
Following Saturday's win – one in which the Brewers tied a franchise record for most consecutive games scoring at least seven runs – Murphy put a Baltimore-based reporter on the spot, asking him if he knew the team's starting pitchers.
The Brewers don't have the big names. Yet they believe they can still win.
"The world doesn't know who our stars are," Murphy said. "The world doesn't know who our lineup is. Who's (Oliver) Dunn? Who are these guys? It's a joy to be around that. They're kind of vibing together and it's kind of cool. Just let it be. But we've got a ton of work to do. You can't coast uphill."
After trailing, 4-1, early on Saturday, Milwaukee stormed back on the shoulders of a complete effort from the entire batting order.
Rhys Hoskins and William Contreras tied the game on separate occasions with singles, Jake Bauers blasted a goahead three-run home run and doubles by Sal Frelick and Willy Adames late put the game out of reach.
The Brewers have scored at least seven runs in six consecutive games and have 58 runs total during that span.
"It's awesome," Frelick said of the offense. "It's so contagious. One through nine you see guys getting hits early. It's really contagious. Everybody is fighting at the bat rack right now trying to get to the box. It's a good feeling being on the offensive instead of the other way around."'
Elvis Peguero provides solid bridge relief after tough day for DL Hall
Brewers starter DL Hall only lasted 3 1⁄ innings before being removed. He allowed 3 five runs on eight hits while walking one and hitting another batter.
Elvis Peguero took over in relief and helped settle the game down in the middle innings, recording five outs without allowing a run. Peguero's work got the Brewers to the sixth inning still ahead, 8-5.
Hall continues to lack his trademark fastball velocity. The pitch, which typically has sat in the upper 90 mph range in his career, was a big reason the Brewers targeted him in the deal for Corbin Burnes this off-season, but was around 91-93 mph again Saturday.
"It's definitely not where I want it to be," Hall said. "That's something that's kind of due to the starter load and slowly coming back. It's definitely a bit tougher pitching without my normal fastball that I'm used to. It's a different style of pitching. It's pretty mentally tough on me to not have that since I've leaned on it for so long now."
Hall's command has to be sharp in place of the fastball velocity, and it wasn't against his former team.
"I think today is the perfect example of that," Hall said. "When I am 92, 93 like I am right now, you can't miss over the middle of the plate. Those pitches I missed over the middle of the plate today, it's a really good hitting team and they'll make you pay for it. You got a little more room for error when you're in the upper 90s."
Jake Bauers' first homer as a Brewer is a big one
With two outs and two on in the top of the fourth, Bauers sure picked a good time to go deep for the first time with Milwaukee. He lofted a ball high into the Baltimore breeze toward right-center off Orioles starter Dean Kremer and it carried out for a three-run blast.
"Anytime you start a season, there's always a weird schedule with a lot of off days, we had some rain. It's tough to get into a rhythm," said Bauers, who came into the day batting .154. "The last couple of days I've been working through some things and it's good to put a good swing on a ball. Hopefully we keep that rolling."