Brewers have won 11 straight; one more gets fans free George Webb burgers
Yes, the franchise has yet to win a World Series in the Brewers' five-and-a-half-decade existence in Milwaukee.
For now, we're talking about a hunger of another sort. On Tuesday night, the Brewers can trigger one of the more unique promotions in sports.
Free burgers!
The Brewers have won 11 consecutive games after defeating the Seattle Mariners, 6-0, on Monday, July 29. With a win in Tuesday night's game, the Brewers will hit a milestone (at least in Milwaukee) 12-game winning streak and earn local fans free hamburgers from George Webb, a local restaurant chain.
The restaurant's namesake, George Webb, was an avid baseball fan and the genesis of the 12-game winning streak promotion dates back to the minor league Milwaukee Brewers and through the brief tenure of the Milwaukee Braves. However, it's been the current incarnation of the Brewers who have fed fans with free burgers.
How many times has George Webb given out free burgers after the Brewers won 12 straight games?
Two times.
The most recent was in 2018, when the Brewers won the final seven games of the regular season, prevailed in the one-game NL Central tiebreaker against the rival Chicago Cubs, swept the Colorado Rockies in three games in the division series and then won Game 1 of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The most famous instance of the Brewers prompting George Webb's 12-game win streak promotion was in 1987. "Team Streak" – as that season's Brewers were called – won the first 13 games of the season. That run included one of the most iconic moments in franchise history, an epic come-from-behind win against the Texas Rangers on Easter Sunday at County Stadium. That was win No. 12, and a dramatic way to earn Milwaukee fans free hamburgers. The next night, the Brewers defeated the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park for their 13th straight win to start a season, which remains tied for the longest such win streak in baseball's modern era.
Three days after the Brewers won their 12th straight in 1987, George Webb restaurants handed out almost 168,194 free hamburgers, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network.
How have the Brewers gotten to this point?
Impressively, the Brewers' 11-game win streak includes six wins against the defending World Series champion Dodgers. It opened with a road win against the Miami Marlins on Sunday, July 6, then proceeded with sweeps at home against the Dodgers and Washington Nationals before the All-Star break. The Brewers opened the season's second half with a sweep of the Dodgers in Los Angeles and then won Monday night's series opener against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
With their current streak of victories, the Brewers have leapfrogged the Cubs atop the NL Central and finished play Monday night with the best record in Major League Baseball. Not too shabby for a team just two of six USA TODAY Sports experts predicted would make the playoffs.
Who's pitching for the Brewers on Tuesday night?
Glad you asked.
It's rookie flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski, who was a controversial selection for the All-Star Game after making just five big-league starts. Countering "The Miz" on the mound for the Mariners will be right-hander Logan Gilbert.
The game starts at 9:40 p.m. ET and will be televised by NFL Network.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
44 minutes ago
- New York Times
What we're hearing about the Mets' deadline plans in the bullpen and center field
NEW YORK – With just over a week to go before the trade deadline, here's what we're hearing about the Mets. President of baseball operations David Stearns referred to 'reinforcements,' plural, on Monday, and another team source suggested the Mets may take more of a quantity approach to supplement their bullpen this deadline. That fits Stearns' M.O.: While in Milwaukee, the biggest bullpen additions he made were Jeremy Jeffress (2017), Anthony Swarzak (2017) and Joakim Soria (2018). And of course, he traded away Josh Hader (getting Taylor Rogers back) when the Brewers led their division in 2022. Advertisement Last year with the Mets, Stearns added four relievers in July: Phil Maton, Ryne Stanek, Huascar Brazobán and Tyler Zuber. So while the Mets aren't ruling out a significant late-game addition, don't be surprised if they instead spread their assets around to acquire multiple arms rather than concentrating on one bigger, shutdown set-up man for Edwin Díaz. The Mets' preference would be for one of those arms to be left-handed. In a pinch, a reverse-split righty like Arizona's Shelby Miller or Pittsburgh's Dennis Santana could also work for that role. Adding two or even three arms would give the Mets cover in the event of an injury to their current bullpen core. And while it's customary to plan ahead, thinking of an eight-man 'postseason bullpen,' the Mets would ideally have an expanded pool of 10-plus relievers to choose from in October, both to optimize their bullpen's matchups against a specific opponent and to keep some of the middle-relief options fresher through four potential postseason rounds. Stearns mentioned the possibility of calling up a Triple-A starter to help out in the bullpen later in the season. Of the Triple-A trio of Brandon Sproat, Nolan McLean and Blade Tidwell, Tidwell might have the clearest path to a relief role this season. Tidwell's stuff grades out very well in analytical models, and he's actually been better in the first inning this season at Syracuse than either Sproat or McLean. It doesn't hurt, either, that unlike his peers, Tidwell is already on the 40-man roster. League sources describe the Mets as active in the market for center fielders while adding that New York is not behaving as if it views upgrading the position as a necessity. At the least, it appears the Mets are taking a little bit more time to figure out their motivation level. Such a stance echoes Stearns' comments Monday regarding the position. Stearns acknowledged center field is 'the one position where we haven't gotten the level of production we anticipated coming into the year.' But that doesn't mean he's hell-bent on finding an external solution. Advertisement 'For me, the bar to improve center field has probably risen over the past two weeks,' Stearns said, 'because of Jeff (McNeil)'s comfort level and the secondary skills that Tyrone (Taylor) can provide. 'I'm certain we're going to be engaged, but we've got to clear the bar.' In other words, the Mets would have to find something better than what they already have. The combination of Taylor and McNeil gives the Mets a decent floor. Taylor is a superb defender. Rival scouts say McNeil has impressed them defensively. McNeil's defensive metrics have improved over the last couple of weeks. 'He's instinctual and has just gone out there basically and been a baseball player,' outfield coach Antoan Richardson said. 'It's him understanding his limits and where his strengths are.' Offensively, the value from the duo depends on playing time. Since McNeil's first appearance in center field on April 26, the Mets have received a .671 OPS from the position, which is 17th in MLB, and a 91 wRC+, which is 15th (eight clubs boast a wRC+ from center field above 110). So their offensive production checks in right around league average for the spot, which is primarily a defensive position. Taylor drags down the offensive numbers. Through 280 plate appearances, Taylor is slashing just .211/.264/.309 with two home runs. Stearns is the only president of baseball operations Taylor has ever played for. Dating back to their shared time with the Brewers, Taylor typically operated as a fourth or fifth outfielder, yet always accumulated a healthy amount of playing time. An acquisition at the trade deadline would demote him to much more of a bench role. 'I don't think about it at all, and I just go about it as, stay in the present and whatever happens, happens,' Taylor said. 'I wasn't always like that, but I had to learn to be that way.' Advertisement McNeil has started in center field three out of the last four games, including on both Monday and Tuesday (it was just the second time he drew back-to-back starts at the position this season). Over the last 23 games, McNeil has made 10 starts in center field. As a center fielder, McNeil owns a .919 OPS. His ability to hit lefties (.849 OPS) makes it harder for Taylor to crack the lineup. Asked if he'd be comfortable with McNeil as the everyday center fielder, Stearns said he liked the current distribution of playing time. Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday that the team will be vigilant in not overworking McNeil, who's starting most days at second base when not in center. 'We have to take care of him, as well,' the manager said. Can McNeil handle a continued increase in workload at center field? Is their production from McNeil and Taylor better than what players in the trade market, such as Cedric Mullins (Baltimore Orioles) and Luis Robert Jr. (Chicago White Sox), can provide? These are the questions the Mets must assess. Unless the Boston Red Sox dangle their outfielders, rival scouts say Robert represents the highest upside in the market at center field because he is 27 years old and just two seasons removed from hitting 38 home runs. Despite a promising start to July (.364 batting average in 10 games), Robert's overall numbers for this season are below average: .206 batting average, .636 OPS, 10 home runs in 323 plate appearances. Given the concerns over Robert's health and production, coupled with the depth of the Mets' farm system, New York shouldn't have to part with their best prospects in order to acquire Robert. For the Mets, league sources speculatively suggested the cost for Robert may involve multiple prospects in the back end of the club's top 20. Is that too much for the Mets' taste? Whether they view Robert — and the cost to get him — as an upgrade over their current situation at the position remains unknown. Brett Baty's production is one of the main reasons why the Mets feel comfortable with what they have at third base. Mets officials view him as above-average defensively. Offensively, he carried a 108 OPS+ (100 is league average) into Tuesday's game. Since the Mets recalled him on May 7 (197 plate appearances), Baty owns a .765 OPS. In that same span, Baty's figure is better than Pete Alonso's (.749) and Francisco Lindor's (.713). Advertisement In the recent past, the Mets have been able to flex their financial muscles around the deadline, by either paying down what's owed a player to bring back better prospects (the Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Eduardo Escobar deals in 2023) or by taking back all of what's owed a player to limit their prospect costs going the other way (the Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek trades last year). Stearns doesn't see the same opportunity to wield that advantage this year. 'If anything, I've gotten the opposite from certain teams,' Stearns said. 'Some sellers would be more open to paying down a player to get better prospect return than having other teams take the money.' Multiple scouts from different organizations this week raved about A.J. Ewing – the type of mid-tier prospect the Mets lacked in their system a few years ago. One American League team recently sent a scout to High-A Brooklyn to specifically evaluate Ewing, league sources said. Ewing, a fourth-round pick in 2023, slashed .400/.500/.600 the first month of the season in Single-A St. Lucie and has run a .400 on-base percentage for High-A Brooklyn over close to 300 plate appearances. Drafted as a shortstop, Ewing has primarily played center for the Cyclones. Jacob Reimer is another hitter in the Ewing mold — a good prospect outside the club's consensus top 10 — that has drawn the attention of scouts this year. (Incidentally, Reimer was also a fourth-round pick out of high school, in 2022.) Reimer has 38 extra-base hits in 81 games this season, split between Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Where the Dodgers' trade priorities lie nine days before the deadline
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers started the final days before the July 31 trade deadline with their closer in an MRI tube, having lost 10 of their last 13 games. The worst stretch of baseball the franchise has produced in years provides a convincing argument to be aggressive despite a crowded and clouded market. Advertisement The club is fully expected to pursue additions to augment their bullpen over the coming days, something that was already the case before Tanner Scott left his outing on Monday night complaining of discomfort in his left forearm. It'll only continue to be the case now, even with general manager Brandon Gomes reaffirming his confidence in the current state of his roster. 'We'll see how these next few days come out and what everything looks like, but as of now our stance hasn't changed on needing to go out and get additional pieces,' Gomes said. Some of this is confidence in a roster that still projects to be one of baseball's best. Some of it is obvious posturing. The Dodgers are far from the only club looking at the variety of high-leverage relievers on bubble teams and rooting that the supply of pitchers actually moved can keep up with the demand. A front office that joked throughout the winter about wanting to avoid buying altogether and openly loathed being in the market for relievers at the deadline altogether (president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has said it's his 'least favorite thing' to do) has grabbed its shopping cart. The bullpen is the club's most glaring need. That was the case before Saturday, when the Dodgers were among the several contending clubs who had a representative at 40-year-old reliever David Robertson's free-agency workout before he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. This is a group that has logged the most innings in baseball this season (446 2/3) and ranks 24th in the majors with a 4.35 ERA. They are banged up. The Dodgers were still awaiting the results of Scott's MRI on Tuesday afternoon, but even the best of news means he will miss some time. Evan Phillips is already out for the season. Michael Kopech has hardly pitched this season, and Blake Treinen has been out since April. Brusdar Graterol hasn't pitched at all after coming off shoulder surgery. Advertisement 'I do think that, we've shown in the past, if there's a trade that needs to be made for a high-leverage guy, we'll do that,' Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. 'We've had some good success with that.' Of course, those deals have come with a cost. Yordan Alvarez's name lives in infamy even though Josh Fields proved quite effective in a Dodger uniform. Oneil Cruz's talent remains tantalizing even years after Tony Watson was one of the final pieces added to a pennant-winning bullpen. It took switching teams again, but Zach McKinstry was a first-time All-Star this month after the Dodgers once dealt him for Chris Martin. Those costs should be extreme this deadline period. Virtually all of the top relief arms bandied about — Minnesota's Jhoan Durán and Griffin Jax, Cleveland's Emmanuel Clase and Cade Smith, Baltimore's Félix Bautista and Pittsburgh's David Bednar, among others — come with multiple years of club control. With it, the already steep prices escalate. 'The prices are always crazy come the deadline,' Gomes said. That's especially true when the Dodgers' two most big-league ready position player prospects aren't seen as likely to be moved. The Athletic reported in May that Rushing is more likely to stay, continuing to back up Will Smith as the All-Star catcher enjoys a career year. Elsewhere, Alex Freeland, who has a .788 OPS in his first 422 plate appearances with Triple-A Oklahoma City, likely falls in the same bucket. Some of their internal pitching options that could help backfill or be used in trades aren't exactly at their top value, either, as Bobby Miller and Landon Knack have struggled in 2025 and Justin Wrobleski has had largely uneven results. The Dodgers are in many ways banking on health. Treinen could be back soonest of the bunch, though he still needs to check off the box of completing back to back outings in his rehab assignment before he's activated. Kopech was insistent last week he could've been back before he's eligible to on August 27. Advertisement There's a belief that Graterol could start ramping up for a rehab assignment sometime next month, though Gomes said Graterol wouldn't need much of a buildup to be ready for postseason action. The organization also hasn't closed the door on Kyle Hurt being an option for them, adding another name to the mix just more than a year after he had Tommy John surgery that ended his rookie season. If their rotation gets back to full strength or something resembling it (Blake Snell will have at least one more rehab outing before he's activated), perhaps one of those arms could kick into an October bullpen. They're also banking on Kirby Yates turning around his start to the season. He's already allowed twice as many home runs (six) than he did in all of his All-Star 2024 campaign, and came within a few feet of allowing what would've been the game-tying blast in Monday night's win. Yates' calling card, the splitter, has been the issue — opposing hitters are hitting .278 and slugging .519 against the pitch this season after minuscule numbers against it a year ago (.114 batting average, .139 slugging percentage). 'His track record, his compete, preparation, all that stuff, I just know that it's gonna turn and he'll get that split where it needs to be again,' Roberts said. The Dodgers have already gotten some trade business done on the reliever front, as former All-Star closer Alexis Díaz took Scott's spot on the active roster for his first true run of opportunity since arriving in a trade in May. The right-hander spent time in Arizona working with Dodgers officials to tweak his delivery, changing how he loads into his back hip along with tweaking his arm slot. The results have been a fastball that is much closer to the mid-90s velocity it was at at his peak form. The results in the minors have remained mixed, including seven walks in 6 2/3 innings. But he was acquired as a flier, and this is the Dodgers' chance to see where he's at. Adding a bat doesn't appear to be as acute of an issue, even given the club's current miserable stretch. Entering Tuesday, the Dodgers' .636 OPS in July was the second-worst in the majors. They dearly miss Max Muncy, who took batting practice on Tuesday and should be back sooner than the six-week time frame originally projected. Mookie Betts hasn't been right all season. Freddie Freeman hasn't hit since June. Teoscar Hernández has been playing at less than 100 percent for much of his time since returning off the IL in mid-May (a stretch where he's produced a .578 OPS entering Tuesday). 'I think the talent level is really high,' Gomes said. 'It just so happened a bunch of guys went into funk at the same time. We haven't been playing very good baseball. We're finding ways to lose and not executing in different facets of the game. Our guys are out there grinding. Sometimes that happens in a season.' Advertisement The Dodgers are focusing on activity, even if publicly they're banking on hope. 'If there's pieces here and there that make sense moving forward, we've never been afraid to make trades when we feel it's a need,' Gomes said. 'We'll continue to assess. We'll see what these next week to 10 days look like. 'But over the long haul, big picture 162 (games) and what a potential playoff team will look like, this group is really talented and I would argue it's better than the team that won the World Series last year.' (Top photo of Emmet Sheehan: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Dodgers put Tanner Scott on IL, but hopeful he returns this season
The Dodgers still want, and need, to acquire a reliever in the next nine days. But, at some point after July 31 trade deadline, they are hopeful of adding Tanner Scott back into the bullpen mix too. In what could be the latest bullet the Dodgers have dodged on the injury front recently, Scott was put on the injured list Tuesday with what was initially described as 'elbow inflammation' — preserving hope that his season might not be over after exiting Monday's game with a 'stinging sensation' in his forearm. As of Tuesday afternoon, manager Dave Roberts and general manager Brandon Gomes said the club was awaiting its medical staff to fully review the results of an MRI exam that Scott had earlier in the day. But both noted that Scott, who turned 31 on Tuesday, reported improvement in his elbow compared to how he felt Monday, when he walked off the mound flexing his throwing arm after spiking a slider in the dirt during the ninth inning of the Dodgers' series-opening win over the Minnesota Twins. Read more: Tanner Scott injury overshadows big nights from Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith in Dodgers win 'Tanner came in feeling pretty good,' Gomes said, 'so we'll wait to see the full report and go from there." 'I'm still hopeful that we'll get Tanner back at some point,' Roberts added. Scott has underwhelmed in the first season of his four-year, $72-million contract with the team, posting a 4.14 ERA in 47 outings with only 19 saves in 26 opportunities. However, losing him for the season would have been a significant blow to a Dodgers team that has already seen key reliever Evan Phillips undergo Tommy John surgery, and navigated around long-term injuries to Blake Treinen (who is nearing the completion of a rehab assignment), Michael Kopech (who is hopeful of returning from the 60-day IL when eligible in late August) and Brusdar Graterol (who is still expected back from an offseason shoulder surgery that has sidelined him all year). 'He's not throwing the baseball as well as he's gonna be throwing the baseball,' Roberts said, maintaining hope not only that Scott will return but also flash improved form down the stretch this year. 'But just to have somebody that's there, that takes the baseball, has been huge.' Of course, Scott's troubles (along with similar scuffles from fellow offseason signing Kirby Yates) have highlighted the need for the Dodgers to target another high-leverage reliever at this year's deadline and bolster a bullpen that ranks 24th in ERA and a far-and-away first in innings pitched. Before Scott's injury Monday, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said 'any time a needle-moving player is available, we're gonna get involved,' when asked how aggressive the team will be in addressing its bullpen need. To that end, there should be no shortage of attractive options, with as many as nine top relievers expected to be available to some degree — from Minnesota Twins flamethrower Jhoan Durán, to multi-time All-Stars such as Emmanuel Clase of the Cleveland Guardians and David Bednar of the Pittsburgh Pirates, to established veteran closers such as the Tampa Bay Rays' Pete Fairbanks and Baltimore Orioles' Félix Bautista, and maybe even young Athletics star Mason Miller. Outside of St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Ryan Helsley, however, almost all of this year's biggest relief targets are under team control beyond this season. Read more: The simple adjustment the Dodgers hope will get closer Tanner Scott back on track That means acquisition costs will be high, at least in the eyes of a Dodgers' front office that has long been wary of overspending on relievers at the deadline. "The prices are always crazy come the deadline,' Gomes said. 'That's why we did everything we could this offseason to not have to be in the position to buy.' The Dodgers do have internal depth they like. This week, the team called up Edgardo Henriquez, a hard-throwing right-hander who missed the start of the year with a broken foot, and Alexis Diaz, the former All-Star closer for the Cincinnati Reds. Friedman also suggested that, with Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki working toward returns from injury, there could be surplus starting pitchers who eventually get moved into the bullpen later this year. 'We feel like we're gonna get to a place where we're not gonna have enough starting pitcher spots for our starting pitching,' Friedman said. 'So there could be some spillover of that into the bullpen.' However, adding another high-leverage arm to the back end of the group remains a priority. Had Scott been lost for the year, that burden only would've grown. 'Once we get Dr. [Neal] ElAttrache's take on it, we'll obviously have more clarity,' said Roberts, who plans to go closer-by-committee in Scott's absence. 'But right now, him talking to the training staff, we feel good about it.' Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
