The longest homestand of the season has been a boon to the Milwaukee Brewers’ division title chances.
It’s been great for Aaron Civale’s stock, too.
The Brewers picked up a third consecutive victory and pushed their lead in the National League Central to a season-high 10 games with 40 to play following a 5-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Friday night at American Family Field.
Willy Adames staked Civale out to a 3-0 lead with the latest iteration in his ongoing binge on three-run homers in the first inning, then the right-hander took care of the rest over six shutout innings.
BOX SCORE:Brewers 5, Guardians 3
In two starts this homestand, Civale has held opponents to two runs over 12 ⅓ innings – both Brewers victories.
In addition to pushing their division lead to double digits, the Brewers also reached their high-water mark for the year at 18 games over .500 (70-52) and kept pace with the Dodgers and Phillies in their chase for a top-two seed and first round bye in the postseason.
Through five out of seven games on this homestand against clubs fighting for the top record in baseball, the Brewers are 3-2.
"It’s been amazing," Adames said. "When you face teams like that, where you know they’re going to be in October, competing in the playoffs. You want to face those teams to see how good you are and if you’re ready to go to October and compete against the best of the best. We’ve shown this week that we can make it happen."
It was a positive ending to a tough day for the Brewers, who were playing their first game since learning that all-star outfielder Christian Yelich would require season-ending back surgery.
"When you lose a guy like him, it’s big hole in the team," Adames said. "For us we just have to continue to grind and maybe we can make it to the World Series to make it worth it for him. I know that he wants to be with us, competing out there. It sucks. You don’t want to get hurt. But he’ll be better after the surgery."
Guardians make things interesting but Joel Payamps locks it down
With the bullpen mix getting more crowded as healthy arms return from injury – beginning with Trevor Megill's impending return – it isn't a good time to not pitch well in relief for Milwaukee.
Bryse Wilson allowed a pair of home runs in a three-batter span to turn a 5-0 lead into a two-run ballgame in the eighth inning. Jose Ramirez ended the Brewers' shutout effort with a two-run blast to the second deck in right, then former Brewers farmhand David Fry took Wilson out to right-center.
The right-hander has been scored upon in five of his last seven outings and given up a homer in four of those games.
Nick Mears was summoned after Fry's homer and struck out Andres Gimenez and Jhonkensy Noel with a nasty fastball-slider combination to send the Brewers to the ninth still with a lead.
With Devin Williams unavailable after pitching the previous two days, Joel Payamps threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the save.
Aaron Civale delivers best Brewers start
After a patchy start to his tenure with the Brewers, Aaron Civale has come along quite nicely in his two most recent outings. On the heels of 6 ⅓ two-run innings last Friday – an outing in which he won his first game in four months – Civale cruised through six shutout against the Guardians.
"The direction that I'm moving on the mound and the intensity that we’re doing it with," Civale said of his last two starts. "We’ve been working on some little things between the games, and (catcher) William (Contreras) is awesome back there."
Civale threw seven different pitches, staying out of the middle of the zone with almost all of them, to keep the Guardians guessing. Cleveland collected just four hits, all singles, off Civale and didn't walk once.
"He manipulates the fastball," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. "That’s the key. You talk to the hitters about a pitcher who can manipulate a fastball and it goes each way. He mixes well but it all comes off the fastball. And then to be able to throw it where he wants."
The only runners to reach scoring position did so because of a Willy Adames error in the fourth, a second-and-third jam with one out that Civale pitched out of by inducing a pop out from Noel and striking out Daniel Schneemann.
Civale did it, too, against his former club. Cleveland drafted him in 2016 and he pitched parts of five seasons there before being traded to Tampa Bay last season.
Does that make the outing any sweeter?
"Of course," he said.
At last, Garrett Mitchell collects a hit
It has not been a good stretch for Brewers outfielder Garrett Mitchell, who walked to the plate in the third inning Friday 0 for his last 21 with 15 strikeouts. Pitchers had been attacking Mitchell mercilessly with high fastballs, the most significant weakness in his swing by a wide margin.
But Guardians starter Gavin Williams left a two-strike fastball down to Mitchell with two on and two outs, and Mitchell drilled it to right for an RBI double to make it 4-0, Brewers.
Milwaukee tacked onto its lead when Joey Ortiz tripled to right-center and scored on Brice Turang's single through a drawn-in infield in the fourth.
Willy Adames hits another three-run home run
Adames is the last hitter you want to see as a pitcher with two men on base. The Brewers shortstop extended his franchise record by slugging his 10th three-run homer of the season in the first inning Friday off Gavin Williams when he crushed an 0-1 fastball 431 feet to right-center.
The blast, which put the Brewers up 3-0, narrowly missed hitting the Toyota truck stationed above the concourse on the fly, instead catching it on the ricochet.
Brewers schedule
Brewers vs. Guardians, 6:15 p.m. Saturday.Milwaukee RHP Freddy Peralta (7-7, 4.11 ERA) vs. Cleveland RHP Tanner Bibee (10-4, 3.39).Broadcasts:TV – Fox. Radio – AM-620.
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.
