ARLINGTON — The Brewers did some cleaning up over the weekend during their road trip in Texas, bringing out the brooms for a three-game sweep against the MLS-leading Western Rangers.
Hauser, a second-round pick in the 2011 MLB Draft, threw five innings of one-run ball and struck out seven batters for his fifth win of the season.
Picnic is what made us [to win]said Brewers director Craig Counsell. “They have a lot of lefties in their lineup…just some excellent hitters, W.H [Houser] Did a good job navigating through it. Especially his third time [through the order] In the fifth inning, I thought that was impressive.
“You really couldn’t ask for more. This was a lineup that scored a lot of runs and did a lot of running damage, and we cut back on that today.”
After Sunday’s win, the Brewers have now won three straight and are three games ahead of the Cubs in National League Central. This is Milwaukee’s second winning streak of at least three games this month. The club has now won seven of its last 10 matches.
“We play good baseball,” said Conseil. “In a long baseball season, you’ve had your ups and downs, but this has been a good series. [Now] We’ll enjoy a day off, and then we’ll have another tough challenge.”
On the other side of the diamond, the hitting spree wasn’t the first two games of the series—when the Brewers racked up 14 and 15 hits, respectively—but the bat did enough to back up Houser and secure the sweep.
Against Max Scherzer—who has climbed to 11th on the MLB all-time hits list in the contest—for the third time this season, the Brewers’ plate system has emerged.
The team pulled four walks and scored three runs against the three-time Cy Young Award winner, forcing Scherzer out of the game in the fourth inning after his pitch count had ballooned to 99.
Three of the four passes directed against Scherzer came in the top of the third inning, when the Brewers sent eight men to the plate.
After Bryce Turang popped out of the frame, Tyrone Taylor worked a seven-pitch walk, Christian Yelich lunged to right field, and Mark Kanha pulled off a seven-pitch walk of his own.
Then, next, an errant pitch by Scherzer hit Philly Adams on the top of his helmet, forcing him to run with the bases loaded. Fortunately for Adames, he was not hurt on the play and even tried to wave the medical staff off before he was examined.
Then, Rudy Tellez, who returned to the lineup Saturday after spending six weeks on the injured list with a finger injury, was awarded a free pass to drive in the team’s second run of the day.
Yelich, who went 2-for-5, drove in a run on an RBI double down the right line in the top of the fourth to chase Scherzer out of the game.
In the top of the eighth inning, the Brewers broke the game wide open, hitting three insurance runs against left-pinching Will Smith to push their lead to 6–1.
Taylor, who got a pair of base hits and scored three runs, did most of the damage in the inning. With two men down, the 29-year-old rebounded his first triple of the season inside the right line to drive on both runs.
“We have a really good team,” Taylor said, “and I’m grateful to be a part of it.”
