The times are dark for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Maybe if they didn’t enter the season with such high expectations, things would be different. Maybe if this team — which was largely the same, except for one key guy — hadn’t been so good last season, things would be different. But right now, the Brewers simply cannot hit. In 15 games in May, they’re averaging 2.3 runs per game; if you exclude Wednesday’s 9-5 victory over Cleveland, they’re averaging 1.8 runs per game. They’ve been shut out six times. Curious about this offensive ineptitude, I checked: going into tonight’s game, the Brewers’ OPS in 14 May games was .556; the Brewers have had just three 14-game stretches that bad in the last 32 years. Also:
The Brewers have been shut out four times in five games for the first time in franchise history. Their sixth shutout this month also ties the franchise record for a single month. There are no reinforcements coming. This is the group that will have to figure it out.
— Curt Hogg (@cyrthogg.bsky.social) 2025-05-18T02:08:02.406Z
Tonight’s game, a showdown between the recently demoted Tobias Myers (who was down only three days and hadn’t appeared in a game since his last major league start last weekend) and the Minnesota ace Pablo López was a big deal for the Twins, who set a new franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings and moved their current winning streak — at 13 games after tonight — into second place on the franchise’s all-time list. For the Brewers, it was just another demoralizing performance from a team that is quickly depriving its fanbase of any hope that they can recapture last season’s magic.
The struggles that led to Myers’ demotion last week did not correct themselves after his three days in the minor leagues. On just the second batter of the game, Ryan Jeffers — who absolutely had Myers’ number tonight — crushed an 0-1 fastball to left-center field for a long home run. In the Twins’ second, Royce Lewis hit a 105.6-mph double down the left field line to start the inning, and the Twins got their second run on a two-out single by the nine-hole hitter, Christian Vázquez. Jeffers “doubled” to lead off the third, a ball that Jake Bauers — not a natural left fielder — misplayed badly, and he scored after two more hits, both singles, by Brooks Lee and Ty France. Another run would have scored when Kody Clemens added a fourth straight hit, but Sal Frelick nailed Lee at home. Then, in the fourth, Trevor Larnach started a two-out rally with a single, which was followed by a Jeffers single — his third hit — and, one pitch after a visit from Chris Hook, an RBI knock by Lee.
That pitch to Lee was Myers’ last of the evening and, presumably, his last in the majors for some time. He gave up tons of hard contact and an almost unbelievable 11 hits in just 3 2⁄3 innings. The fact that the Twins scored only four runs on those 11 hits was a borderline miracle, and Frelick’s outfield assist had a lot to do with that. I guess if you’re looking for a silver lining, Myers didn’t walk anyone, but good command isn’t just not walking people; it also means not throwing fastballs down the middle.
Of course, when the offense can’t score, it doesn’t really matter how badly your pitchers perform. The offense today got an early chance against López, but they squandered it, and from that point on, they looked just as flat as they have all month.
The exception to tonight’s offensive woes was Brice Turang, who led off the Brewers’ first with a ball that deflected off López for an infield single. After a Jackson Chourio flyout, Turang stole second base, and he advanced to third on a(nother) Christian Yelich groundout. William Contreras drew a two-out walk, putting runners on the corners with two outs, but Sal Frelick grounded out meekly, and the Brewers failed to tie the game early.
After that, they just kept falling further behind and made very little progress against López. Other than a beautiful at-bat from Turang in the third inning, in which he battled for 10 pitches before knocking a solid single to center on the 11th. But, of course, Chourio flew out to shallow right, Yelich grounded out, and the Brewers got nothing. Through five innings, Turang’s two singles and Contreras’ first inning walk were the only baserunners the Brewers had.
Myers leaving the game did not immediately change the Brewers’ fortunes. Grant Anderson was the chosen pitcher for mop-up duty, and while he got Milwaukee out of the fourth inning with no further trouble, he allowed a solo homer to Clemens in the top of the fifth, and the Twins had the unusual accomplishment of having scored one run in each of the first five innings.
The one-run-each-inning parade continued in the top of the sixth, helped along by more bad defense. Larnach blooped a ball into left field, and Bauers couldn’t get to it, but he made things worse by trying to make a sliding catch and failing. That turned Larnach’s bloop single into a bloop triple, and he scored two batters later when Lee hit a sac fly to right.
Turang, the only guy doing anything for the Brewers tonight, led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk in front of, ostensibly, the heart of the order. To his credit, Chourio finally hit a pitch hard, but he hit it right at Lee for a 107-mph first out, and then Yelich struck out (he looks terrible right now), and Contreras grounded out.
Rob Zastryzny made his 2025 debut in the top of the seventh — remember, he made nine pretty successful appearances with the Brewers last season before spending time in both the Cubs’ and Yankees’ systems (but didn’t pitch in the majors for either) before the Brewers re-acquired him on Friday. Clemens knocked a leadoff single off of Zastryzny, but a strikeout, a fielder’s choice, and another strikeout ended the Twins’ streak of one-run innings at six.
Old friend Justin Topa replaced López for the seventh, and a hitter not named Turang finally got a hit, a one-out single from Rhys Hoskins. Bauers followed that with a walk, and Caleb Durbin was hit by the next pitch, and you could almost hear the creaking as the Brewers’ offense tried to break the rust off and get into gear. Joey Ortiz was not going to be allowed to face Topa with the bases loaded and one out, so Isaac Collins came out of the dugout to pinch hit, but that didn’t work as Collins popped out back to Topa, and then Turang fell back to earth as he grounded out and the Brewers got zero runs out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation.
Zastryzny was back for the eighth and allowed only a single that got by Durbin at third base. The Twins sent Jorge Alcala to the hill for the bottom of the eighth, and he sat down Chourio, Yelich, and Eric Haase (who replaced Contreras defensively in the top of the inning) in order.
Tyler Alexander came in to pitch the ninth for the Brewers, and he gave up a leadoff double to the recently acquired (and newly in the game) Jonah Bride. Bride was then erased, though, when Andruw Monasterio (another eighth-inning defensive replacement) threw to third on a ground ball to shortstop and cut down Bride for the first out. With Clemens at first, Lewis knocked a single into left. Harrison Bader followed with a ground ball to third that was almost a double play, but they didn’t quite get him on the relay, which mattered, because DaShawn Keirsey Jr. followed with a bloop single into left field to score Clemens.
The new Twins pitcher in the ninth was lefty Kody Funderburk. Daz Cameron pinch-hit and grounded out on the first pitch he saw, Hoskins struck out looking on a pitch that was pretty clearly outside, and Monasterio grounded out to second base.
The 7-0 victory made 13 straight wins (the second-longest streak in team history) and 33 straight scoreless innings (the longest stretch in team history) for the Twins. For the Brewers, they were shut out for the fourth time in five games and for the sixth time in 15 games in May.
There’s not a whole lot else to say. The Brewers managed only three hits, all singles, and the only remotely bright spots were Turang (2-for-3 with a walk) and the debut of Zastryzny, who pitched two innings and was the only Brewer pitcher not to allow a run today (though Joel Payamps’ run should somehow get charged to Jake Bauers).
Milwaukee will try to salvage a game on Sunday afternoon at 1:10 p.m. The Twins have a TBD listed, but the Brewers will turn to Freddy Peralta.
