Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Who else feels old after hearing that Kurt Warner’s son will be the starting quarterback at Fresno State this year?
In today’s SI:AM:
⚾ What’s wrong with Max Fried
🐯 LSU preview
🏈 College football’s most interesting coaches
Brewing up something special in Milwaukee
No team in baseball is as hot right now as the Brewers. In fact, few teams in MLB history have had a run as good as what Milwaukee has done of late.
With a 7–1 win over the Pirates on Monday, the Brewers stretched their current winning streak to 10 games. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Milwaukee just had an 11-game winning streak in July. They’re the 10th team in MLB history to have two winning streaks of at least 10 games in the same season, according to MLB.com.
The Brewers’ first streak began on July 6 and ended on July 21. They then went 4–4 to close out July and began their current streak on Aug. 1. The ongoing 10-game streak is tied for the third longest in franchise history, three shy of the record of 13 straight set in 1987.
After losing to the Marlins on July 5, the Brewers were 49–40 on the season, four games behind the Cubs for first place in the NL Central. Since then, though, Milwaukee is an incredible 25–4, by far the best record in the majors over that span. The Guardians are next at 21–9, followed by the Red Sox (20–10) and Padres (20–11). Milwaukee’s season-long record now sits at an MLB-best 74–44, and it has raced out to a 6 ½-game lead over the Cubs in the division.
The latest hot streak is impressive, but the Brewers are trying not to let it go to their heads.
“Nobody cares about the streaks,” veteran Christian Yelich said. “We have no idea [about streaks]. It’s just about today. What’s happened has no [impact] on the future.
“You can lose it quick.”
But there’s no denying that the Brewers are on a historically significant heater right now. They’re just the 11th team in the past 40 years to win 25 out of 29 games. That list includes some of the greatest teams in baseball history, like the 1998 Yankees (114 wins), 2001 Mariners (116 wins) and the 2022 Dodgers (111 wins).
The Brewers have actually been on a tear since late May. They started the season by stumbling out to a 25–28 record and sinking as far as fourth place in the division. The turnaround began with a comeback win over the Pirates on May 25, after which Milwaukee has been virtually unstoppable. The Brewers are 49–16 since that date, 12 games better than any other team in the NL (the Padres are next-best at 39–30).
It would be easy to dismiss Milwaukee’s current 29-game run as small sample size variance, but the fact that the Brewers have been as great as they’ve been for nearly three months suggests that they really might be the best team in the majors. They’ve quietly been one of the most consistently successful teams in baseball over the past decade. Only the Yankees, Astros and Dodgers have won more games over the past nine seasons than Milwaukee. But the Brewers have only won one playoff series in that time. Will this year be different?
The best of Sports Illustrated
- The Yankees have something new to worry about in a season that's quickly unraveling: their most reliable pitcher, Max Fried, is no longer reliable. Tom Verducci digs into what Fried needs to fix.
- Brian Kelly’s LSU tenure has had its bumps, but the Tigers enter 2025 as SI’s ninth-ranked team with the firepower to contend on the national stage. Bryan Fischer breaks down why Year 4 in Death Valley could be Kelly’s breakthrough season.
- No league embraced chaos last season quite like the Big 12, and 2025 should be no different. Bryan Fischer explains why the conference’s depth and unpredictability will once again keep fans guessing all year.
- From Bill Belichick’s arrival at North Carolina to Deion Sanders’s third act in Boulder, 2025’s coaching storylines are loaded with intrigue. Pat Forde ranks the 25 most fascinating figures on the sidelines this season.
- J.J. McCarthy has received plenty of praise from his peers this training camp, but tremendous expectations also burden him. Matt Verderame checks in on the new Vikings QB and more in his visit to Minnesota.
- Indiana aims to build on last year’s breakout by leaning on an elite defense and a fresh face at quarterback. The Hoosiers enter 2025 as SI’s 10th-ranked team with playoff aspirations and the talent to back them up.
The top five…
… things I saw last night:
5. Tigers sideline reporter Logan Reever’s Jennifer Coolidge impression while the broadcast crew tried to fill time during a rain delay.
4. A really bizarre swing-and-miss by Rays catcher Nick Fortes.
3. An even stranger play behind the plate by Fortes to secure a foul tip for a strikeout.
2. Shohei Ohtani’s 42nd homer of the season, tying Kyle Schwarber for the NL lead. (It was also Ohtani’s 100th career homer at Angel Stadium.)
1. Alex Bregman’s homer in his first at-bat back in Houston.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | Brewers’ Red-Hot Month Continues With 10th Straight Win.
