Big-league-best Brewers chase sweep of Pirates, 12th straight win
The surging Milwaukee Brewers will be looking for veteran right-hander Brandon Woodruff to continue his remarkable comeback when they go for their 12th consecutive victory on Wednesday against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates to wrap up the three-game series.
Woodruff (4-0, 2.29 ERA), who missed all of the 2024 season following shoulder surgery, will be opposed by right-hander Mitch Keller (5-10, 3.86).
The Brewers, who have won 14 of their past 15 games, chased Pirates ace Paul Skenes early and pounded out a season-high five homers in a 14-0 rout of the Pirates on Tuesday. Freddy Peralta allowed three hits over six scoreless innings for his major-league-best 14th win.
Andrew Vaughn had a three-run homer while Christian Yelich and Caleb Durbin each had a two-run shot against the Pirates bullpen. Sal Frelick and Brice Turang had solo homers off Skenes, who entered with a big-league-best 1.94 ERA but was tagged for four runs on six hits in four innings.
Milwaukee, which also had an 11-game winning streak from July 6-21, is the first team since the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays to have multiple winning streaks of 11 or more games in the same season. The Brewers are the first NL club with two such streaks since the 1935 Chicago Cubs.
The Brewers, 26-4 over their past 30 games, improved to a major-league-best 75-44 and increased their lead in the NL Central to 7 1/2 games over the second-place Cubs, who lost 5-1 at Toronto on Tuesday.
'After we lay our heads down on the pillow, tonight's game doesn't matter. It's about tomorrow and winning tomorrow,' Turang said postgame. 'It's just trying to win the game that day and they stack up.'
Woodruff has been dominant since coming off the injured list in early July, pitching at least six innings in five of his six starts with opponents hitting just. 139 against him.
In his latest outing, Woodruff shook off a pair of early solo homers and allowed just one hit the rest of his seven innings to get the victory in a 3-2 win over the New York Mets on Friday.
Woodruff is 7-3 with a 3.40 ERA in 17 career games, including 15 starts, against the Pirates.
Turang extended his hitting streak to nine games. He is batting .351 with six homers and 12 RBIs over that span after managing only six homers in his first 105 games this year.
Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly, who was ejected for arguing balls and strikes on Tuesday, said his team simply has to move on.
'We have to find a way to come back tomorrow, have energy,' Kelly said. 'We've got a day game after a night game and come out and compete and find a way to win.'
Keller is 4-0 with a 3.50 ERA over his past eight starts. In his most recent outing, he allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings but did not get the decision in Pittsburgh's 3-2 comeback win over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.
Keller is 1-5 with a 4.99 ERA in 10 career starts vs. Milwaukee. He has faced the Brewers once this season, when he permitted one run in six innings during a no-decision in a 2-1 Pirates victory on May 24.
Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz was removed from the Tuesday game in the top of the sixth inning and was being evaluated for a head injury. He collided with left fielder Jack Suwinski on a fourth-inning double by Joey Ortiz.
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