Not even Paul Skenes could cool off the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers.
The Brewers tagged Skenes for a leadoff home run Tuesday night to spark a 14-0 blowout of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They chased the NL Cy Young favorite after four innings.
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The win extended Milwaukee’s win streak to 11 games for its second 11-game win streak since July. Per MLB’s Sarah Langs, the Brewers are just the second MLB team since 1954 to post two such streaks in a single season and the 13th overall since the turn of the 20th century. And they’ve done it in a matter of weeks since their first 11-game win streak started on July 6.
The win improved the Brewers’ MLB-best record to 75-44 as they’ve emerged from the All-Star break as the best team in baseball. They’re now 20-4 in the second half of the season and have a 7.5-game lead over the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.
And they secured Tuesday’s win while roughing up arguably the best pitcher in baseball. The Brewers did the bulk of their damage against Pittsburgh’s bullpen. But they delivered Skenes of one of the worst outings of his brief but stellar career.
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Sal Frelicik starts Brewers binge with leadoff HR off of Skenes
Sal Frelick got the barrage started for the Brewers. Milwaukee’s leadoff hitter declined to bite on a 2-2 changeup below the strike zone and worked Skenes to a full count. The payoff pitch was a 97 mph fastball that Skenes delivered on lower inside corner of the zone. Frelick launched it into the right-field stands for an early 1-0 Brewers lead.
Milwaukee didn’t strike again in the inning, but make Skenes work in a 22-pitch first.
Skenes appeared to settle down in the second with a 1-2-3 inning. But he issued two walks in the third and allowed another Milwaukee run to score on a William Contreras double.
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Skenes then allowed three more hits in the fourth, including a Brice Turang solo home run and an RBI single by Frelick that followed up a Joey Ortiz double.
Skenes got out of the inning without further damage as the Brewers had built a 4-0 lead. But his night was done. The final line for the NL Cy Young favorite: 4 earned runs allowed on 6 hits including 2 home runs with two walks on 93 pitches. His season-long ERA increased crossed the two-run threshold from 1.94 to 2.13.
Frelick’s leadoff home run marked the first time this season that Skenes allowed a first-inning run of any kind. Tuesday was just the second time this season that Skenes allowed multiple home runs.
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Pittsburgh’s bullpen didn’t stand a chance.
Brewers tee off on Pirates’ bullpen
Christian Yelich kept the party going with a two-run home run in the fifth inning off reliever Yohan Ramírez.
When the game was done, the Brewers had tagged five Pittsburgh pitchers for 15 hits and five home runs while walking five times. Nine different Brewers batters secured hits, nine scored runs and seven logged RBI.
An on the mound, Freddy Peralta pitched a gem. The Brewers starter pitched six shutout innings with seven strikeouts and one walk allowed while giving up just three hits. Milwaukee’s bullpen did the job from there to complete the shutout with three more pitchers.
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If you haven’t been paying attention to the Brewer’s now’s a good time to start.
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