New-look Brewers off to 'contagious' red-hot start

BALTIMORE -- Two weeks into the season, the Brewers are upending all kinds of expectations. Their Corbin Burnes-less rotation is one of the National League’s best, despite injuries and inexperience. They’re down their best offensive player, and they're scoring runs left and right.

They made moves just before Spring Training opened that appeared, to some, to signal the start of a retooling phase -- yet they won’t stop winning, off to one of their best starts ever.

The latest example came Saturday, when the Burnes-less (trade) and Christian Yelich-less (injury) Brewers just kept clicking, slugging their way to an 11-5 come-from-behind victory over the Orioles at Oriole Park for their fourth straight win. The big swings from Milwaukee’s red-hot offense this time came from Rhys Hoskins (homer, two RBIs) and Jake Bauers (three-run homer), who helped the Crew overcome an uneven DL Hall outing against his former club.

“I know [opponents] probably don’t recognize a lot of the names in our lineup or know who [our] guys are,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “But they’re young, they’re hungry, they’re passionate. It’s fun to play free.”

The victory made these Brewers the third team in franchise history to win 10 of its first 13 games, joining the 2014 (10-3) and 1987 (13-0) clubs. They matched a franchise record Saturday by scoring at least seven runs in their sixth straight game (1982, ‘89).

"It’s so contagious,” outfielder Sal Frelick said. “One through nine, you see guys getting hits early. Guys are fighting to get to the bat rack right now.”

Said Murphy: “Working your [butt] off together and going through the grind and playing these great teams, that’s what brings you together. For young guys, it’s mostly awareness … learning how they fit into the team and how to operate. That awareness, to me, will bring you together.”

The Brewers can’t wait to step to the plate because they’re all hitting, resulting in a relentless offense getting contributions from everywhere. On Friday, they hit 19 balls that Statcast deemed “hard-hit” (95 mph or more), their highest total in two years and tied for their third most in a single game since 2015. On Saturday, five different starters registered multiple hits. For so long known as a pitching-and-defense team that excels at winning tight games, the Brewers were one run behind the Dodgers and Padres, who played later Saturday, for the most among NL clubs.

“You see everyone having good at-bats, and you want to have good at-bats of your own,” said Bauers, who drove in four runs on the day.

Yelich had been the face of that offensive effort, given his pedigree and scorching-hot start, and the Brewers will certainly feel the impact if the recurrence of back issues he suffered Friday requires him to miss significant time. But he was also far from the only Brewer producing.

• William Contreras, who singled home a run and scored three more Saturday, is 15-for-37 (.405) with three homers, two doubles and 12 RBIs during an active nine-game hit streak.

• Frelick is 14-for-34 (.412) with 10 runs scored in his last nine games. He cracked two hits, scored twice and drove in a run Saturday.

• Willy Adames has three homers, eight runs and seven RBIs in his last eight games. He drove in two runs as part of his second consecutive three-hit day on Saturday.

All told, the Brewers have used 30 hits to score 22 runs over the first two games of this series -- with an even 15 hits and 11 runs coming in each game -- against the defending American League East champions. They’re not surprised by their success -- but they are relishing the opportunity to surprise some people early in the year.

“People think we’re going to be terrible or think we’re going through rebuilding,” Murphy said. “I’m not worried about what other people say. I’m just worried about these young men playing free and competing with that freedom. But it comes with discipline, hard work and great preparation. If they do those things and they are mentally disciplined, then playing with that freedom can be very dangerous and other teams begin to feel it.”