Seven straight, two-out hits for eight runs across three pitchers in the top of the fifth inning carried the Brewers to a 10-1 pummeling of the Tampa Bay Rays. For the second time in franchise history, the Brewers will have a chance to win their first World Series championship in franchise history tomorrow night.
For the second time this season, the Brewers stared down their former ace, Freddy Peralta. And for the second time this season, they hung at least five runs on him to force him off the mound before the sixth inning.
Their process of getting to Peralta began much like every other game has this postseason: patience and persistence. In the top of the first inning, the Brewers offense forced Peralta to throw 20 pitches. In the midst of the large load of early throws, both Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich collected their first of many base hits of the night.
To complement a great offense, great pitching is often needed, a recipe that the Brewers have cooked up time and time again this season. Tonight was no different for the Brewers’ southpaw Robert Gasser. With perhaps the start of the postseason so far, Gasser allowed his lone hit of the night in the bottom of the first inning on a lead-off knock from Yandy Díaz. From that moment onward, Gasser was lights out, retiring the next 15 batters he faced before allowing a lead-off walk to Victor Mesa Jr. in the bottom of the sixth.
While Bobby Diesel cooked, the Brewers offense continued to grind down Peralta, finally dishing out their first blow of the ballgame. Following a David Hamilton popout, Chourio quickly collected his second base hit of the game. After a Jake Bauers walk, Christian Yelich also grabbed his second hit of the game, this time driving in Chourio to give the Crew a 1-0 lead. On the very next pitch, William Contreras went opposite field to extend the Brewers’ lead to 2-0.
Then came the time when Brewers fans across the country said, “I’m sorry it had to come to this,” as they watched their former ace and his teammates get bullied apart. Chourio collected the team’s sixth hit with one out in the top of the fifth inning. Following Bauers’ flyout to center field, Yelich walked to put two men on. Then, Junior Caminero made a play that he’ll be thinking about moving forward, as instead of throwing out the meandering Contreras down the line, he went for the force play at second. Yelich had the manager get his foot into the bag a split second before the ball was caught. The play on the field was ruled out until Pat Murphy’s challenge said it wasn’t, which in turn loaded the bases with two outs.
Cam Booser replaced Peralta on the mound following the overturned challenge, which then sparked the first of seven straight, two-out hits. The first one came on a Brice Turang bleeder up the middle that was misplayed to score two runs. Then Garrett Mitchell singled to extend the Brewers lead to 5-0, which was followed up with the third straight hit that was a Cooper Pratt double to drive in two more. Sal Frelick got his extra-base hit after being robbed a couple of innings prior to shoot the Crew’s score up to 8-0. After David Hamilton singled to make it 9-0, Chourio conveniently bounced a double off the Culver’s sign in right-center field to cap the Brewers’ lead at 10-0.
Gasser continued to dominate in an efficient way until he was pulled after 75 pitches through six innings. Following his departure, we saw two scoreless innings from Antonio Senzatela as he worked his first innings since the San Diego series. Finally, for the first time since the 2021 National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, Brandon Woodruff made his return to the mound in postseason play. Many didn’t know what to expect from Big Woo, nor did they know how long he was going to last, but to be able to see a glimpse of the past in the present was enough to forget his two-out RBI single he allowed to Díaz.
With that, the Brewers complete a statistical oddity, as they will finish the year a perfect 7-0 on the 26th day of the month. During games played on the 26th of the month, the Brewers outscored their opponents, 64-10. They’re officially one win away from history, with a chance to accomplish what no team has done in the modern era: Sweep the championship series and the World Series.