It was a high-stakes series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Philadelphia Phillies the past few days, but the former were on the wrong side of it as the Phillies handed the Brewers their first sweep of the season.
Brewers star Christian Yelich spoke about the state of the team after the sweep that ended officially on Wednesday when the Phillies beat them 2-0 at Citizens Bank Park.
Funny enough, Milwaukee and Philadelphia were the only two teams left in the National League that had not suffered a sweep in a series so far this season. But something had to give, and the latter came out on top.
Both teams are also at the top of their respective divisions, but while the Brewers lost three-straight games to the Phillies, Yelich spoke about what he learned about his team, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.
“I think we can definitely play with anybody; I think we’ve shown that,” Yelich said. “But there’s a difference between playing with somebody and beating them.”
Yelich warns Brewers about making a habit of not playing to strengths
So far this season, Yelich has been solid, recording a .309 batting average with six home runs and 27 RBIs with a .904 OPS. The 32-year-old has had a tumultuous career to say the least. After spending the first five seasons with the Miami Marlins, they traded him to the Brewers. He had two incredible seasons after the trade in 2018 and 2019 but has not reached that level since.
In 2018, Yelich won the NL MVP award when he hit 36 home runs to drive in 110 runs while hitting a .326 batting average and a 1.000 OPS. The year after in 2019, he finished second in MVP voting as he had 44 home runs with 97 RBIs while batting .329 with a 1.100 OPS.
If there was one aspect that was disappointing on the Brewers side, it was the offense, as the most they scored in the series was one run led by a dominant showing from the Phillies' rotation of Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, and Cristopher Sanchez. Yelich would have a mostly positive outlook of their outings while also acknowledging that they “can't make it a habit or a trend.”
“We didn't get blown out of the water by any means, but we also didn't do a good enough job at the things that we've been good at, and we need to continue to be good at,” Yelich said. “That’s going to happen. We just can’t make it a habit or a trend.”
Yelich cites the importance of capitalizing off opportunities
As Yelich mentioned, the games were not blowouts every day, which some could argue made the series sweep more frustrating, but the Phillies' pitching was exceptional.
Milwaukee did have their chances as they had runners thrown out at the plate in each of the three games played between the two National League teams as the star emphasizes that they need to “capitalize” on opportunities when given to them.
“Especially when you run up against a good team with really good pitching, you’re not going to get a lot of opportunities,” Yelich said. “When you do get opportunities, you need to capitalize on them and make the most. We didn’t really do that.”
Another person within the Brewers organization that saw a more positive viewpoint from the series weep was manager Pat Murphy, who said after the 2-0 defeat Wednesday that there is benefit from the team losing in that certain way. He said during times like this where the ballclub goes through struggles, he learns more and more about his team.
“I know this will be a good thing for our team to go through,” Murphy said. “Nobody likes losing. Nobody likes losing close ones. No one likes knowing you're right there, you hit balls hard and they get caught.
“It wasn’t a lack of effort, like I've said all year. I continue to learn that our team wants to compete. It’s a fun thing sitting in my seat when you know you just lost three close ones, but you still really like your team.”
Brewers' Pat Murphy sees positives in ‘taking these three on the chin'
While the series sweep will sting, there were some positives to take away from it. One positive was the pitching holding Philadelphia, which averages 5.2 runs per game, to a total of seven runs in the three games.
Still, the performances are a way to “learn” as “taking these three on the chin” are crucial for further success according to Murphy as they saw some development from the Brewers as he also credits the front office.
“That's how we get better; that's how we learn,” Murphy said. “Taking these three on the chin when every game could have went either way, taking these on the chin here against the best record in the National League, hopefully that sits in the right place for these guys and they understand, ‘Hey, we're right there.’”
“Credit to our front office to be able to give us the depth to survive at all,” Murphy continued about the team's front office. “Everybody has stepped up, so maybe it's a positive that, through all this adversity, we’ve found out a lot about other guys.”
Huge return for Milwaukee's pitching
One of the positive developments that Murphy saw was the return of Milwaukee pitcher Aaron Ashby, who made his first start since April 8 against the Cincinnati Reds. In the comeback, he pitched five innings, striking out three, allowing two hits, walked five batters, and had two earned runs.
“Best I've seen him throw, actually,” Murphy said on Ashby. “That's what we've been waiting for.”
The 26-year-old has seen mostly work as a reliever in the bullpen but is seeming to make a transition as a starter as, per MLB.com, Murphy hinted that Ashby earned another go as a starter. This is what Ashby “expects” himself to do for Milwaukee.
“That's what this team expects me to do,” Ashby said. “That's what I expect of myself.”
Still, this is one series out of many in the long season that baseball is as there are a ways to go, but there is no doubt that Milwaukee is learning from their mistakes. Murphy echoed those sentiments when he admitted it is going to be an “uphill battle” where coasting is a recipe for disaster.
“We've got a ways to go,” Murphy said. “We have an uphill battle, which I’ve said all year. You can't coast uphill. We’ve got to keep grinding.”
Even with the series sweep, the Brewers are sitting at the top of the NL Central with a 36-26 record with the Chicago Cubs in second place at 31-31. Milwaukee will start a two-game series against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.
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