The Milwaukee Brewers continue to give their fans reasons to be excited for postseason play.
Boasting the best record in the majors, Milwaukee (81-48) opened a seven-game homestand on Friday with a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants, thanks to William Contreras’ first career walk-off homer in the ninth inning.
Ahead of the series’ second game on Saturday, Contreras and company will look to continue a memorable 2025 campaign that has the Brewers on track to set a franchise single-season win mark. Milwaukee won 96 games in 2011 and 2018 and is on pace to finish with 102 victories this season.
But for now, the club is set on enjoying the run, just as Contreras enjoyed his 379-foot homer that sent the Milwaukee crowd home happy.
“It was incredible. You kind of just black out in that moment,” Contreras said through his translator. “It’s hard to even know what to do, but I was happiest to get the win there. I hope that I can do that a thousand more times. I’m happy to be able to do the job that I did with the rest of the guys to pull out that win today.”
After a three-game skid, the Brewers have won two straight and hold a seven-game lead over the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central.
Looking to help Milwaukee clinch its fourth straight home series, Freddy Peralta (15-5, 2.78 ERA) is slated to make his 27th start on Saturday. The majors’ leader in wins, Peralta has gone 3-0 with a 0.53 ERA in August. Last time out, the 29-year-old right-hander surrendered just one hit in six scoreless innings in a 7-0 victory over the Cubs on Monday.
In five career appearances (four starts) against the Giants, Peralta is 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA. He faced them on April 23, allowing three runs across five innings in a 4-2 loss.
As good as Milwaukee is feeling heading into Saturday, the opposite can be said for the reeling Giants.
San Francisco has dropped four straight games and 11 of 13 overall, falling 7 1/2 games behind the New York Mets for the NL’s final wild-card spot.
Trailing by two runs entering the eighth on Friday, the Giants scored once in each of the final two innings to mount a rally, which is the good that manager Bob Melvin will take from another setback.
“There was certainly some battling there,” Melvin said. “To be able to score one in the eighth and ninth, put enough pressure and get some base runners out there to have a chance. I think we came out with some energy today, but it’s hard to swallow a one-run loss when we felt like we were going to get through the ninth.”
A silver lining on Friday was San Francisco shortstop Willy Adames’ two home runs against his former team, bringing his season total to 21.
With the club in desperate need of a stopper, Logan Webb (11-9, 3.19 ERA) gets the start on the mound for the Giants on Saturday. Webb has gone 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA in three starts in August and boasts a 3-0 mark with a 2.17 ERA in six career starts against the Brewers.
Webb was Peralta’s counterpart in the April 23 game and picked up the win after throwing 6 1/3 scoreless innings.