MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers celebrated American Family Field’s return to full capacity by sweeping the Rockies.

Now, bring on the Cubs.

• Box score

First place will be on the line in the National League Central when the Cubs visit a surging Brewers team coming off Sunday’s 5-0 win over Colorado. Keston Hiura homered for the second time in three days and drove in three runs, Omar Narváez hit a two-run shot and Eric Lauer pitched six shutout innings for Milwaukee’s fifth consecutive win.

The Brewers are on a good run again as a division rival comes to town for Monday’s 7:10 p.m. CT series opener between Cubs Opening Day starter Kyle Hendricks and Brewers strikeout specialist Freddy Peralta.

“We all know the importance of these games, not only for the division, but also bragging rights,” Hiura said. “Hopefully we can pack those seats. We know it’s going to be a competitive nine innings every single day.”

The numbers say the Brewers have been quite competitive of late:

• At 45-33, Milwaukee is a season-high 12 games over .500 for the first time.

• Since dropping two games under .500 with a series-opening loss at Cincinnati on May 21, the Brewers have won 24 of 34 games. Milwaukee has the best winning percentage in baseball since that loss to the Reds. 

• The five-game winning streak matches the Brewers’ season high, and all three of their five-game streaks have come over the past month. They also won five in a row from May 27-31 and June 3-8.

• There’s something about sunshine. The Brewers improved to 26-9 in day games, the best winning percentage under the sun in baseball. They have won 17 of their last 18 day games.

Best of all, they completed the series sweep on Sunday without deploying Brad Boxberger, Devin Williams and Josh Hader, meaning Milwaukee’s top three relievers will be fresh for the start of the Cubs series. That was thanks to Narváez and Hiura, who drove in two runs apiece in the bottom of the sixth while Boxberger was getting loose, extending a 1-0 Brewers lead to 5-0.

Hiura also homered leading off the third inning off Rockies starter Chi Chi González before delivering a two-out, two-run double in the sixth off right-handed reliever Justin Lawrence. That’s the hit that allowed Boxberger to sit in favor of Trevor Richards, Hunter Strickland and Ryan Weber to finish the game.

And it was nearly an even better day for Hiura. Batting with two runners aboard and two outs in the eighth, he hit a sinking line drive to right field that was narrowly caught by a sliding Yonathan Daza. The Brewers challenged to check whether it was a trap, and the call was confirmed on a replay review.

“I was very glad that all that hard work, those two weeks I put in in Triple-A, really transferred over to here,” said Hiura, who returned last week from a second demotion to the Minor Leagues. “I've told people that that first stint, the numbers were good and I was able to barrel a lot of balls and to make a lot of good contact. But for me, I wasn't feeling as comfortable as normally I am in the box. So, the second stint, it was more so that I was able to be satisfied whether I got out or got a hit or whatnot. Taking pitch by pitch, reading how they're pitching me, making better swing decisions.”

Said manager Craig Counsell: “I thought his first at-bat, the home run, today was a great example. Basically the pitch before was an identical pitch to the pitch he hit the home run on. He made an adjustment to a pitch he’s traditionally struggled with a little bit and put a great swing on it. Then he hit two rockets to the opposite field. There’s been some very hard contact.”

Is Hiura looking more like the hitter who made a splash as a Brewers rookie in 2019?

“Don’t worry about the Keston of 2019,” Counsell said. “We need offense. We need guys contributing to the circle of scoring runs.”

The Brewers will try to keep it going against the Cubs, and it might not take many runs. Peralta (2.11 ERA) and Brandon Woodruff (1.89 ERA) are scheduled to start the first two games, and Corbin Burnes is lined up for Wednesday's finale unless the Brewers opt to either add a sixth starter or employ a bullpen day in order to continue giving their starters an extra day of rest.

“Both the teams are at the top of the leaderboard right now, so it’s a huge [series], obviously,” Lauer said. “I think it’s a really good thing that we’re coming off this series, and how strong we’ve been recently pitching, hitting, baserunning, defense -- everything. I think we’re in a really good spot to roll through this series and make a statement for the rest of the season.”