The Milwaukee Brewers righted the ship with a 4-1 win Thursday afternoon against the Cubs. That victory, which snapped the team’s first three-game losing streak since May 7-10, is yet another behind Quinn Priester as the primary starter, extending the streak 15 straight. The Brewers leave Chicago back up by seven in the division en route to a home set against the Giants this weekend.
While Priester delivered a solid outing, charged just one earned run in 4.1 innings, Milwaukee once again relied on the bullpen to hold down the fort. Despite dropping three games, the Brewers were competitive in every one thanks in large part to the work of their relievers. Victorious in the finale, Priester acknowledged their performance after he left them in something of a jam.
Milwaukee Brewers bullpen shows off again with 4.2 innings of no-run ball
Up 2-0, Priester left the game in the fifth after walking Seiya Suzuki to load the bases. The pitcher who replaced him, right-hander Nick Mears, promptly induced a pair of routine fly balls to end the inning with just one run scoring, on a sacrifice fly.
Grant Anderson, Jared Koenig, Abner Uribe, and Trevor Megill then combined to hold the Cubs scoreless across the final four frames. An accountable Priester made sure to credit everyone in his postgame interview.
“From the situation I put Mears in, certainly not one I’d want to put my teammates in, but knowing him, he kind of thrives in those situations. To come away with just one, able to hold it there the rest of the game. Grant did a great job. Uribe, Koenig, I mean everybody down the stretch, outside of me getting the bases loaded there in the fifth,” Priester said.
Although he did not register a win-loss decision, the start lowers his ERA this season to 3.44 in 24 appearances covering 128.1 innings. He has supplied far more than the Brewers bargained for when they acquired Priester from Boston in April, for basically nothing.
As for Milwaukee relievers, they allowed just three runs in 18.1 innings in the five games against Chicago, backing up rocky starts from Chad Patrick, Brandon Woodruff, and Jacob Misiorowski to keep each of the L’s close in addition to closing out the two victories.
That kind of insurance isn’t something to take for granted, Priester recognizes. “When you have guys like that behind you, even if guys are on base, you keep runs off the board, we’ve got a chance.” And a chance, as they say, is all you can ask for.
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