Two Outs? Brewers Cooling Off After Hot Start

(I wrote the first few paragraphs on Monday before the Brewers traveled to Boston to play the Red Sox. After doing so well in their first nine games, Milwaukee went stone-cold batting with two outs. Part one of my story includes everything through the table. Part two begins after the table.)

It was such a nice day on Sunday that I decided not to worry about the branch that had fallen into my yard (from the neighbor's tree) during the weekend's ice storm; that could wait for another day. Instead, since it was 50 degrees and sunny, I took my cat Hudson and 'grand pup' Ellie outside and let them run around while I listened to the Brewers-Royals game on Sirius/XM. 

I'm not sure who it was, either Jeff Levering or Lane Grindle, who talked about the Brewers' ability to have success at the plate after two outs. In fact, they said it repeatedly. The Brewers continued to score multiple runs per inning, putting up a twisted digit in three of the nine frames on the way to an 8-5 victory and a series win at Kauffman Stadium. 

The Brewers went 5-for-14 (.357) in the contest, including two doubles, a triple, and a home run. They also drew four walks (one of them intentional) and plated five runs during those ABs. When I ran the numbers through my abacus, the slash line came out to .357/.500/.857 over 18 trips to the plate.

Pretty impressive!

Then I checked out the numbers to date for 2026. The Crew is 34-for-105 with nine doubles, two triples, and six homers. Add on 22 free passes and 35 RBI, and you have some gaudy numbers, albeit in a small sample: .324/.441/.619 in 127 plate appearances.

Brewers' Two-Out Batting Stats

Then came the first and only trip of the year to Fenway Park. 

Milwaukee went from red-hot with two outs to a dismal 1-for-16 in the first two games with Boston. Christian Yelich drew a walk in his only two-out appearance, and Garrett Mitchell went 1-for-1 with two RBIs. Eight other players went a combined 0-for-15, including 'Wild Bill' Contreras, failing to get a base hit in three trips. Perhaps he was distracted by his brother Willson's antics during the game on Monday.

Bottom line: It is unrealistic to expect the team to keep hitting at the pace they did over their first three series. Yelich, for example, has a career slash line of .268/.372/.425 with two outs. Let's hope Milwaukee gets back to its exciting brand of heroics with two outs. That type of success makes the Brewers much more fun to watch.