Behind Quinn Priester, Brewers eye 9th straight win, sweep of struggling Mets
The red-hot Brewers will look to remain perfect this month when they attempt to complete a sweep of the reeling Mets in the finale of a three-game series on Sunday afternoon.
Right-hander Quinn Priester (11-2, 3.15 ERA) is slated to start for the Brewers against left-hander Sean Manaea (1-1, 3.52).
The Brewers earned their eighth straight win Saturday night, when they scored four runs in the seventh inning of a 7-4 victory. William Contreras capped the outburst by hitting a two-run homer immediately after his inning-ending fly-out was negated by a pitch-clock violation on Mets pitcher Ryan Helsley.
The unusual win was the second in as many nights for the Brewers, who sealed Friday's 3-2 victory over the Mets when center fielder Blake Perkins threw out Starling Marte trying to score from second on Jeff McNeil's single.
But the good fortune began a lot earlier than Friday for the Brewers, who have won 11 of their last 12 games to improve to 72-44 -- the best record in baseball.
The Brewers' surge includes seven wins in which they have scored seven runs or more as well as four victories in which they have five runs or fewer. In addition, Milwaukee is 8-1 since star second-year outfielder Jackson Chourio went on the injured list on July 29 due to a strained right hamstring.
"We're going through a great moment -- one of the better moments the franchise has gone through," Contreras said via an interpreter Saturday night. "Great vibes in the clubhouse whenever you're just going through a stretch like this, winning games. I think it's a feeling in any clubhouse that this is kind of what you're chasing after. Just a good feeling all around."
There aren't many good feelings for the Mets, who have lost six straight games and 10 of 11 to fall out of first place in the National League East and into the third and final NL wild-card spot, just 2 1/2 games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds.
The losing streak has been filled with painful defeats for the Mets, who left the bases loaded in the ninth inning of a 7-6, 10-inning loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Monday before they were no-hit into the ninth inning of a 4-1 loss on Wednesday.
Pete Alonso gave the Mets a second-inning lead Saturday, when he hit his 252nd career homer to tie Darryl Strawberry atop the franchise's all-time list. But shortstop Francisco Lindor was charged with a two-run error in the bottom of the inning, and third baseman Ronny Mauricio missed a chance to snare Isaac Collins' tiebreaking RBI single just before Contreras' homer in the seventh.
"We're not playing good baseball," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza acknowledged. "Especially when you're playing against teams like this. You give them extra outs, extra bases, they're going to make you pay. And that happened today."
Priester won his 10th straight decision in his most recent start last Monday, when he allowed one run over seven innings as the Brewers beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1. The right-hander has a 2.45 ERA over 12 games (nine starts) during his winning streak.
Manaea didn't factor into the decision Monday after giving up five runs over 5 2/3 innings in the Mets' 10-inning loss to the Guardians.
Priester took the loss in his lone career appearance against the Mets on Aug. 14, 2023, when he gave up six runs over five innings for the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 7-2 defeat.
Manaea is 1-2 with a 5.48 ERA in five regular-season games (four starts) against the Brewers. He didn't factor into the decision in Game 2 of the NL wild-card series last Oct. 2, when the southpaw gave up two runs over five innings in New York's 5-3 loss.
--Field Level Media
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