William Contreras has found his power stroke, and on Saturday night it helped deliver a second straight victory over the Cleveland Guardians.
The catcher lined a solo home run to left in the fourth inning, and that blast stood the rest of the way as the Milwaukee Brewers locked up the teams' interleague series with a 2-1 victory at American Family Field.
The homer was the second in the last three games, fourth in the past six and sixth of the month for Contreras, who's up to 17 on the season.
Box score:Brewers 2, Guardians 1
"The kid's got the potential to be a fabulous, complete hitter," said manager Pat Murphy, whose team improved to 71-52 and remains 10 games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central Division standings.
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The Brewers' 28-14 mark in interleague play is best in the majors this season.
"One of the best hitters in the game. And power is part of his game," Murphy continued. "He didn't change anything or (hasn't) done anything (different). He works very hard. He's staying disciplined to pitches he wants a little better. And when he gets pitches he wants that are around the plate or something soft up, he can hurt you."
The teams combined for eight total hits in the game and three over the final five innings in what felt like a playoff-type matchup featuring strong pitching from starters Freddy Peralta and Tanner Bibee, both bullpens and solid defense in front of an enthusiatic crowd of 37,518.
"That was a good major-league baseball game," Murphy concurred. "That's what it was."
The Brewers struck first when Brice Turang drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first, advanced to second on an errant pickoff throw by Bibee and came around to score on a Gary Sánchez double to left-center.
Milwaukee was in line for another run when Willy Adames sent a blooper to short center with two outs, but Tyler Freeman made a terrific diving grab to keep it a 1-0 game.
Peralta was one strike away from posting four scoreless innings when slugger Josh Naylor went up and got a fastball and sent it out to right field for his 27th homer to knot the score at 1-1.
"Way up," Peralta said. "I executed; it was a pitch that we thought was the right one. That was the plan before the game. If you see the video, you'll probably see Gary just (shrug). We did what we thought was the right thing.
"Great for him."
Milwaukee didn't wait long to re-take the lead, however, as Contreras took Bibee out to left in a 1-2 count with one out in the bottom of the inning.
It was a laser beam that traveled out at 110 mph and stood as the hardest-struck ball of the game.
"I just feel really good at the plate right now," said Contreras, who along with Adames and Rhys Hoskins has helped pick up the slack with regard to run production with Christian Yelich sidelined for the season after undergoing back surgery on Friday.
"Feeling really comfortable. Not trying to do too much. Just trying to do what I can to help the team."
What could have been a problematic walk issued to José Ramírez with two outs in the sixth ended up being a moot point when Peralta (8-7) fanned Naylor after Ramírez stole both second and third base and stood just 90 feet away as the potential tying run.
That left Peralta's pitch count at 81 but Murphy elected against giving him a chance to at least start the seventh.
"He's coming off four days' rest again. We're in a long haul here," Murphy said. "There was no consideration, and he agreed with it himself. Now, if he gives up runs there you guys are like, 'What are you doing, taking him out that inning?'
"It was kind of an emotional pitch that last pitch (to Naylor). You get out of that situation, you know as a pitcher when that's it. I don't know how many pitches he was at, but that was it."
Peralta's previous season low for pitches was 88, and that came all the way back on April 5. He scattered four hits and a run with two walks and three strikeouts in his team-leading 10th quality start of the season.
"We did that decision together," Peralta said of departing after six. "I see no reason why I have to come back again. I knew that we had the guys fresh behind me, and I was fine. For me, it was the best decision. We were winning by one run and they had seen me two times; the top of the lineup three times.
"I was fine letting the bullpen take care of the rest of the game."
It was impossible to argue with the way the game turned out, as Joel Payamps retired the side in order the night after recording his first save of the season. The right-hander has allowed just one run over his last 14 appearances.
Jared Koenig struck out the side in the eighth and Devin Williams set Cleveland down 1-2-3 in the ninth to lock down his fourth save, clinching a winning homestand with the potential for a sweep against a tremendous Guardians team on Sunday.
"We're playing good ball on both sides of the ball right now, both offensively and defensively," Contreras said. "I think maybe there's some people that maybe weren't expecting us to win as many games in this stretch as we have.
"We're going out there every night to play our best game, and I think that's what we've done."
Brewers time, TV, radio
The Brewers game starts at 6:15 p.m. Saturday.
TV: Fox. Radio: AM-620 and a state network.
Brewers lineup
- Brice Turang 2B
- Jackson Chourio LF
- Gary Sánchez C
- William Contreras DH
- Willy Adames SS
- Jake Bauers 1B
- Sal Frelick RF
- Garrett Mitchell CF
- Joey Ortiz 3B
Guardians lineup
- Steven Kwan LF
- Will Brennan DH
- José Ramírez 3B
- Josh Naylor 1B
- Lane Thomas RF
- Andrés Giménez 2B
- Tyler Freeman CF
- Bo Naylor C
- Brayan Rocchio SS
Brewers schedule
Brewers vs. Guardians, 1:10 p.m. Sunday.Milwaukee RHP Colin Rea (10-4, 3.72 ERA) vs. Cleveland RHP Ben Lively (10-7, 3.71).Broadcasts:TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.
