Stat of the Day: Brewers just miss record

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Brewers this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

• Brewers Stat of the Day, August 2021

Oct. 3: Dodgers 10, Brewers 3 -- Crew falls short of wins mark
The Brewers were 91-57 when they clinched a postseason berth on Sept. 18 and needed to go only 5-9 the rest of the way to match the franchise record for victories of 96, set by the 2011 Crew and matched in Game 163 in 2018. They went 4-10, including 1-5 on a low-stakes final road trip, to finish the season at 95-67 and fall one win short of tying the record. Still, it marks just the fifth time in 53 seasons that the Brewers won at least 95 games, joining the 1979, 1982, 2011 and 2018 clubs.

Oct. 2: Dodgers 8, Brewers 3 -- Make it 61
When Colin Rea came on in relief of Corbin Burnes, he became the 61st player to appear in a game for the Brewers this season, further obliterating the franchise record. The 1969 Seattle Pilots used 53 players in their only season before moving to Milwaukee, and that held until the era of "active roster management" took hold in 2018 and the Brewers matched that obscure mark. Now they have blown it away, starting with an incredible spate of injuries at the start of this season that saw as many as 18 players on the injured list at one point in May.

Oct. 1: Dodgers 8, Brewers 6 -- 10 slams
The Brewers have arguably their best pitching staff in franchise history, but they have served up 10 grand slams, including Trea Turner's tying shot off Eric Lauer in the fifth inning. That matches a dubious franchise record set by the 2010 Brewers, who finished with baseball's fifth-worst ERA at 4.59. This year's Brewers, for comparison, entered Friday with baseball's third-best ERA at 3.39.

Here are the Brewers pitchers who have served up a slam in 2021:

• Alec Bettinger (2)
• John Curtiss
• Lauer
• Hoby Milner
• Daniel Norris
• Freddy Peralta
• Brent Suter
• Patrick Weigel
• Brandon Woodruff

Sept. 30: Cardinals 4, Brewers 3 -- Hader strong on the bump
Milwaukee is scripting its bullpen outings this week to get everyone rested up for the National League Division Series, which is why Josh Hader made a rare appearance with the team trailing when he delivered a 20th consecutive scoreless appearance. It is just the sixth streak of 20-plus scoreless outings in a single season in Brewers history, adding Hader -- who also had a 19-game scoreless streak earlier this season -- to this list:

• Jeremy Jeffress (23, April 7-May 27, 2018)
• John Axford (23, May 15-July 2, 2013)
• Doug Jones (23, Aug. 11-Sept. 26, 1997)
• Brian Shouse (20, June 23-Aug. 5, 2007)
• Brian Shouse (20, July 14-Aug. 25, 2006)

Sept. 29: Brewers 4, Cardinals 0 -- Houser clips Cards' wings
With five more scoreless innings in his final scheduled start of the regular season, Adrian Houser lowered his ERA against the Cardinals to 0.36 in four starts in 2021 -- 25 innings, 17 hits, two runs (one earned), eight walks, 14 strikeouts and no home runs. The effort lowered Houser's ERA for the season to 3.22, which is down from 5.30 last year but still ranks fifth in the Brewers' terrific starting rotation behind Corbin Burnes (2.29), Brandon Woodruff (2.56), Freddy Peralta (2.81) and Eric Lauer (2.93).

Sept. 28: Cardinals 6, Brewers 2 -- Urías keeps racking up HRs
Would you have been able to name Luis Urías as the Brewers' leader in games played (146) and at-bats (478)? Well, he's also second on the team with 22 home runs after hitting a two-run shot off the "BIG MAC LAND" sign over left field at Busch Stadium in the fourth inning on Tuesday. Urías had six career home runs in 372 at-bats entering this season and topped out at 19 home runs at Triple-A El Paso in 2019 before the Brewers acquired him in a trade with the Padres.

Sept. 26: Brewers 8, Mets 4 -- Crew clinches nice and early
The Brewers have a chance to break their team record of 96 victories (they have 94 with six games to go), so it should come as no surprise that they just clinched a division title at the earliest stage of a season in franchise history. They secured the National League Central on Sunday with six regular-season games to go, just a hair ahead of the 2011 Brewers, who won the division with five games to go via Ryan Braun's tiebreaking three-run home run in the eighth inning on Sept. 23 of that season.

The two other division champions in club history -- the 1982 Brewers in the American League East and the 2018 Brewers in the NL Central -- won it on the final day of the regular season, with the '18 team going all the way to a Game 163 tiebreaker against the Cubs.

Sept. 25: Brewers 2, Mets 1 -- Hader's scoreless streak
Josh Hader ran his scoreless streak to 18 consecutive appearances with a strikeout of Mets pinch-hitter José Peraza, whose home run at Citi Field on July 7 handed Hader his only blown save this season. That's a career high, one better than his 17 straight scoreless appearances from May 22-June 29.

Sept. 24: Brewers 5, Mets 1 -- Wong's leadoff HR prowess
After the Mets put the Brewers in a deficit after the top of the first inning for the fourth time in the last five games, Kolten Wong tied the game at 1-1 with his seventh leadoff home this season, and the Brewers' ninth as a team. That team total matches the franchise record set by the 2011 club, and Wong's seven are one shy of Rickie Weeks' single-season club record from 2010. Said manager Craig Counsell: "Kolten had great at-bats all night. ... I thought it was key to jump back to even right there. It puts energy back in the stadium and back in the dugout."

Sept. 23: Cardinals 8, Brewers 5 -- Taylor joins multi-slam club
Tyrone Taylor is the 21st player to hit multiple grand slams in a season for the Brewers -- Ryan Braun is the only player in club history with two multi-slam seasons -- and Taylor has nine remaining games to hit a third, which would tie the franchise record. It's an eclectic list. Slugging first baseman/designated hitter John Jaha hit three grand slams for Milwaukee in 1995, and the others were veterans who played for the Crew late in their careers; Devon White hit three slams in 2001 and John Vander Wal hit three in '03.

Sept. 22: Cardinals 10, Brewers 2 -- Urías surging to the finish
The Brewers find themselves in a team-wide hitting funk over the past week-plus, but infielder Luis Urías has been doing his part. After going 1-for-3 with an RBI that put Milwaukee on the board in the fifth inning on Wednesday, Urías has reached base safely in 20 of his last 21 games, batting .292 (21-for-72) with four home runs and 14 RBIs over that stretch.

Sept. 21: Cardinals 2, Brewers 1 -- Two times 200
With strikeouts of Dylan Carlson and Yadier Molina to open the second inning, Brandon Woodruff joined Corbin Burnes in the 200-strikeout club. It's only the second time in franchise history that the Brewers have had multiple pitchers reach that milestone (Yovani Gallardo and Zack Greinke in 2011), and with Freddy Peralta at 190 strikeouts with two scheduled starts remaining, there's a chance for a third. Only six AL/NL teams since 1901 have had at least three pitchers surpass 200 strikeouts.

2018 Indians (4) -- Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger, Corey Kluber
2019 Nationals (3) -- Patrick Corbin, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg
2018 Astros (3) -- Gerrit Cole, Charlie Morton, Justin Verlander
2013 Tigers (3) -- Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander
1969 Astros (3) -- Larry Dierker, Tom Griffin, Don Wilson
1967 Twins (3) -- Dave Boswell, Dean Chance, Jim Kaat

Sept. 20: Cardinals 5, Brewers 2 -- Yelich's bat goes quiet
For a while earlier this month it appeared Christian Yelich was back, but his bat has gone quiet again. With an 0-for-3 performance on Monday against the Cardinals -- when Yelich started a game batting below the cleanup spot for the first time since since 2015 with the Marlins -- he's officially gone a calendar month without a home run. At 26 games without a homer, it's Yelich's longest power drought since he went 27 homerless games in 2017 with Miami. Prior to this season, his longest home run drought with the Brewers was 16 games in 2018. He's had three stretches longer than than in 2021; an 18-game stretch from July 20-Aug. 20 and a 17-game stretch from June 27-July 17.

Sept. 19: Cubs 6, Brewers 4 -- Missed opportunities
The Brewers missed out on a couple of chances to make some franchise history in the loss to the Cubs. Milwaukee came into the game with 15-3 against Chicago in 2021, tying the 2019 team for the most wins in a season against a single opponent (15-4 vs. the Pirates in '19). The Brewers were also on an 11-game win streak against the Cubs, the second-longest single-season win streak vs. one club (2008, 12-game streak vs. the Pirates).

Sept. 18: Brewers 6, Cubs 4 -- 36 batters, no hits
Corbin Burnes faced 36 consecutive batters without allowing a hit, dating to his final inning against the Cardinals on Sept. 5, covering all eight innings of his combined no-hitter with Josh Hader in Cleveland on Sept. 11 and extending through the first eight batters he faced against the Cubs on Saturday. It was an unlikely batter who finally broke the streak -- Cubs pitcher Justin Steele, who lined a single up the middle off Burnes while leading off the third inning. It was Steele's first Major League hit.

Sept. 17: Brewers 8, Cubs 5 -- 10 in a row vs. Cubs
The Brewers have won 10 straight games against the Cubs, giving them the second double-digit winning streak against a single opponent within a single season. The Brewers beat the Pirates 12 straight times in 2008, including a September sweep in the final homestand at Miller Park that helped Milwaukee hang on to win the National League Wild Card berth and snap a 26-year postseason drought.

Sept. 15: Tigers 4, Brewers 1 -- AL Central a headache in '21
From the "go figure" department, the Brewers are 89-57 with a chance to set a franchise record for regular-season victories (they would have to finish 8-8 or better to break the mark), but they've struggled mightily against some of their Interleague foes from the American League Central. Milwaukee finished 8-12 against the AL Central this season, winning season series against the first-place White Sox (2-1) and the second-place Indians while going 3-11 against the also-ran Royals (0-4), Tigers (1-3) and Twins (2-4). Said manager Craig Counsell: "I think we've got a lot of wins. You don't pick who you get them against."

Sept. 14: Tigers 1, Brewers 0 (11 innings) -- Rare line for Hader in 9th
Josh Hader produced this pitching line in the ninth inning on Tuesday: One inning, no runs, no hits, three walks, three strikeouts. Yes, that's a rare occurrence, but it's becoming more common. According to Baseball-Reference's database of American/National League games, only two pitchers produced that line from 1901-2010. But from 2011 on, it has happened nine times, including three in 2021 -- the last two by Brewers relievers. Braves closer Will Smith did it against the Cubs on April 16, before Milwaukee’s Brad Boxberger did it in Game 2 of a doubleheader at the Mets on July 7. Then, Hader repeated it.

Sept. 12: Brewers 11, Indians 1 -- 15 innings, zero hits
A Ryan Lavarnway leadoff single in the sixth ensured the Brewers would fall short of becoming just the second team in the modern era -- joining the 1917 St. Louis Browns -- to pitch no-hitters on back-to-back days (the Browns, incidentally, had two no-hitters in three games, because the second day was a doubleheader against the White Sox). But thanks to Hunter Strickland in the ninth inning Friday, Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader on Saturday and Eric Lauer on Sunday, they managed to post 15 straight no-hit innings. In the last 25 years, only five other teams have achieved the feat, most recently the 2019 Astros (from Aug. 2-4).

Sept. 11: Brewers 3, Indians 0 -- All about Burnes
Corbin Burnes did not quite finish the job, but he sure left a lasting impression by pitching eight of the nine no-hit innings against Cleveland. Burnes became the first pitcher in Brewers history to not allow a hit over eight or more innings with 14 or more strikeouts, and he's the first in MLB since the Astros’ Justin Verlander on Sept. 1, 2019, against the Blue Jays. Burnes became the fourth pitcher in Brewers history to carry a no-hitter through eight innings and the first since Odell Jones on May 28, 1988, also at Cleveland. He also is the sixth pitcher in Brewers history (10 times overall) to reach 200 strikeouts in a season and the first since Yovani Gallardo in 2012.

Sept. 10: Brewers 10, Indians 3 -- Houser's strange night
This is not a pitching line you see every day: In six innings of work, Adrian Houser gave up two runs (both unearned) with five walks, five strikeouts and six stolen bases... yet only one hit. The only other time in Major League history that a pitcher allowed multiple runs, at least five walks and at least six steals while only giving up one hit was Red Sox pitcher Matt Young's eight-inning "no-hitter" loss on April 12, 1992. And weirdly enough, that game was also against the Indians in Cleveland.

Sept. 8: Brewers 4, Phillies 3 -- Another 30-save season
By working around a pair of walks in a scoreless ninth inning for his 30th save, Josh Hader became the fourth Brewers reliever in franchise history to record 30-plus saves in multiple seasons. Dan Plesac was the first in 1988 and ’89, then there was a gap until John Axford in 2011 and ’12 and Francisco Rodriguez in 2014 and ’15. Hader, who had 37 saves in 2019, is unscored upon in his last 12 outings (11 1/3 innings, four hits, five walks, 19 strikeouts in that span).

Sept. 7: Brewers 10, Phillies 0 -- Strange, but true
Before the past two nights of Phillies-Brewers -- a 12-0 Phillies win, followed by a 10-0 Brewers win -- the last time teams traded double-digit shutouts in the same series was right here in this ballpark, according to Elias. The starting pitchers on the winning side were Dave Bush for the Brewers in the first game and Aaron Harang for the Reds in the second game.

April 22, 2006 - Brewers 11, Reds 0

April 23, 2006 - Reds 11, Brewers 0

Sept. 6: Phillies 12, Brewers 0 -- Solving Wheeler
There's still a chance the Brewers could meet the Phillies in the postseason, and if they do, they'll have to find a way to score against Philadelphia right-hander Zack Wheeler. With a three-hit shutout on May 6 and six scoreless innings in this game, Wheeler became the 12th pitcher ever to work at least 15 innings against the Brewers in a season without allowing an earned run. Here's that list, in order of scoreless innings pitched:

19.0 Trevor Williams, PIT 2018
18.2 Paul Mirabella, TOR 1980
18.0 Al Fitzmorris, KC 1974
17.0 David Wells, NYY 1997
16.0 Scott Olsen, FLA 2008
16.0 Kevin Brown, SD 1998
16.0 Erik Hanson, SEA 1991
16.0 Dave Steib, TOR 1988
15.2 Walt Terrell, DET 1985
15.0 Wheeler, PHI 2021
15.0 Roy Oswalt, HOU, 2001
15.0 Dave McNally, BAL 1973

Sept. 5: Brewers 6, Cardinals 5 -- Vogey joins history
Daniel Vogelbach hit the eighth walk-off grand slam in Brewers history, and the first in 13 years. Of the eight, Sixto Lezcano’s ranks near the top, because it occurred amid the pomp and circumstance of Opening Day, and Ryan Braun’s may have been the most impactful, since it came in the final week of 2008 when the team was scuffling for wins and needed every one of them to snap the franchise’s 26-year postseason drought. Here is the list of all eight:

June 26, 1977: Cecil Cooper vs SEA
April 10, 1980: Sixto Lezcano vs BOS
April 25, 1985: Ted Simmons vs DET
June 16, 1991: Greg Vaughn vs OAK
April 8, 1992: B.J. Surhoff vs MIN
May 15, 1992: Franklin Stubbs vs TEX
Sept. 25, 2008: Ryan Braun vs PIT
Sept 5, 2021: Daniel Vogelbach vs STL

Sept. 4: Brewers 4, Cardinals 0 -- No longer shut out
The Brewers went 1,011 games between nine-inning shutouts from Kyle Lohse's gem against the Reds on Sept. 24, 2014, to Adrian Houser's against the Cardinals -- the longest drought for a franchise in Major League history. Despite the gap, the two were actually once Brewers teammates. "When I got called up in 2015, he was still with the Brewers so I got to talk to him for the last two weeks of the season," Houser said. "I didn’t know that [he was the last to do it]."

Sept. 3: Cardinals 15, Brewers 4 -- Trouble with Wainwright
Adam Wainwright is tough on the Brewers in Milwaukee, no matter the name on the stadium. The Cardinals have won each of the last nine games he's started here, and to find their last loss, one has to go all the way back to a 4-3 Brewers victory over Wainwright and the Cardinals on July 18, 2012, when two St. Louis errors contributed to a four-run first inning for Milwaukee.

Sept. 2: Giants 5, Brewers 1 -- Williams' stellar streak ends
Another long run of excellence came to an end Thursday for reliever Devin Williams after the Giants snapped his streak of 22 consecutive outings without allowing an earned run. Williams has gone 20-plus outings without allowing an earned run in each of his first two full seasons in the Majors, joining lefty Brian Shouse as the only pitchers in franchise history with multiple such stretches.

Here are the Brewers’ only single-season streaks of 20-plus appearances with no earned runs allowed:

25: Brian Shouse, 2007
23: Jeremy Jeffress, 2018
23: John Axford, 2013
23: Ray King, 2000
23: Doug Jones, 1997
22: Williams, 2021
22: LaTroy Hawkins, 2011
22: Mike Myers, 1998
20: Williams, 2020
20: Tyler Thornburg, 2016
20: Shouse, 2006

Sept. 1: Brewers 5, Giants 2 -- Rare air above .500
At 82-52 after a fourth consecutive victory on Wednesday, the Brewers reached 30 games over .500 for the fourth time in franchise history. The all-time high water mark in Brewers history is 31 games over .500 on Sept. 28, 1982, the day backup catcher Ned Yost used a borrowed bat to deliver a pinch-hit, go-ahead home run over Fenway Park’s Green Monster to put the ’82 team four games up in the American League East with five to play. Here are the only instances in Brewers history that they found themselves at least 30 over the break-even point:

31 over -- Sept. 29, 1982
30 over -- Sept. 29, 1979
30 over -- end of 2011