Brewers Week In Review: July 18 — July 24

July 24, 2022
|In Brewers
|By Ben Kenney

A strong second-half debut series has things pointed in the right direction for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The team had entered the break losers of eight of 11 and had played sub-.500 baseball since the beginning of June. With the trade deadline fast approaching and the St. Louis Cardinals closing in on first place, the start of the second half felt like a pivotal stretch for this Brewers ball club. Well, the team came out and took the first three of a four-game set against the Colorado Rockies. It now seems like the club’s trajectory has flipped 180 degrees from where it was entering the break.

Some may say the All-Star Break was just what the doctor ordered for the Brewers…or others could point out that all that was necessary was a matchup against Rockies pitching. After this weekend, it’s hard to argue with either thought.

What is known: the bats came out of the second-half gates scorching hot, as the Brewers finished the weekend having scored 25 runs against a Colorado pitching staff that ranks among the worst in the MLB. Most importantly, there always seemed to be juice left in the team when the Rockies pulled ahead. The Crew came back with a miraculous 6-5 victory in 13 innings on Friday night and rallied for 3 go-ahead runs in the bottom of the 8th in Sunday’s 10-9 win. Such wins were not a reality during the month-and-a-half stretch entering the sport’s halfway pole.

The Brewers also have the Cincinnati Reds to thank for a productive weekend in the standings, as the Reds took two of three from the Cardinals — allowing the Brewers to create a 2.5-game cushion in the standings.

Here is your full Brewers Week(end) In Review:

 

Record: 3-0

Current Standing: 53-43 (1st in NL Central)

 

The Good: Hunter Renfroe Is Scalding Hot

I don’t know what Renfroe did during the All-Star Break. But whatever it was, it worked. The Brewers outfielder homered in all three games against Colorado and finished the week with a slash line of .500/.571/1.821, 6 hits, 4 runs, 3 HR and 7 RBI.

The best part about his performance was the heroics. First, a game-tying two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th in Friday’s 6-5 win. Then, a much-needed two-run jack in the third inning of Sunday’s high-scoring 10-9 victory.

The week moves Renfroe’s season-long slash line to .257/.310/.827, 16 HR and 58 RBI — that while only having played in 62 of the team’s 96 games thus far. A hot Renfroe in the middle of the lineup could lead to great things for this Milwaukee team, especially if another bat is on the way before the trade deadline passes.

Other ‘good’ news to note: Freddy Peralta began a rehab assignment and pitched well in his first appearance, Brandon Woodruff appears to be all the way back to full strength and Kolten Wong hit .545 in the weekend series.

 

The Bad: Not Much

Taking the first three games of a series doesn’t usually include much ‘bad’ to note. So put all of these nominations in the ‘honorable mention’ category.

-The bullpen allowed 11 runs in 15 2/3 innings of work (though Friday’s three runs came with the game already decided).

-Eric Lauer wasn’t able to keep the starting pitching momentum going, allowing 4 runs in 4 1/3 innings in Sunday’s win

-Christian Yelich went 3/13 with 6 strikeouts

That’s it.

 

MVP: 

-Hunter Renfroe (.500/.571/1.821, 6 hits, 4 runs, 3 HR and 7 RBI)

 

Stat Of The Week:

 

Video(s) Of The Week:

 

Tweets Of The Week:

 

Next Week: vs. COL (1), vs. MIN (2), @ BOS (3)

brewers news Freddy Peralta hunter renfroe schedule standings stats video woodruff yelich