The Brewers just played some of their best baseball on the road and come home in first place

PITTSBURGH – The Milwaukee Brewers not only just delivered a winning road trip, but a very impressive one at that.

With a 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park, the Brewers secured a 7-3 trip across three cities and over 10 days.

“Overall it was a great road trip,” Brewers catcher William Contreras said. “We stayed connected and we played really well as a team.”

Everything was clicking for Milwaukee.

The trip featured some of the best performances from the Brewers offense since their hot streak to begin the season in April. They scored 24 runs in three games over the weekend in Pittsburgh, the third-most of any three-game span they’ve had this year.

Take out Julio Teheran’s rough outing in New York and Brewers starters had a 3.02 ERA.

Only one of the team’s top four late-game relievers allowed a run, and it was a single tally against Elvis Peguero on Sunday.

“It just shows you that we pitched well and we’ve got a lot of players contributing to that,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “It takes a lot of guys on your roster when you go through a trip like this.”

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Here are three takeaways from the win Sunday:

Colin Rea delivered a second straight quality start

The final notch in the trip was highlighted by another strong start from Colin Rea, who has turned from a journeyman rotation fill-in to staple of the pitching staff through the first three months of the season.

Rea's 6 ⅔ innings of two-run ball gave him 13 total innings with three runs and only 11 base runners allowed on the road trip, placing him third on the team in starts made and innings pitched – something nobody saw coming in March.

“I think it’s just getting comfortable is the biggest thing,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "His career, he’s bounced around so he’s gotten comfortable and that leads to some confidence and he’s had success. Those things all go together and now he’s executing at a really high level because of all three of things.”

Rea pitched into the seventh inning in both of his starts during the road trip, something he had never previously done in consecutive games.

He did so by pounding the zone. Of Rea’s 89 pitches Sunday, 61 were strikes.

“I think he was really efficient in both starts, so that means he’s throwing a ton of strikes and he’s throwing quality strikes early in the count that they’re putting in play, generally,” Counsell said. “It’s not big strikeout numbers but it’s quality strikes early in the count and that leads to some early contact. He’s got a reputation for throwing strikes.

"We’ve seen aggressive teams against him but he’s into the seventh inning on both starts and that’s huge. That’s really meaningful.”

That length was particularly meaningful on this trip because the Brewers expended nearly all their bullpen resources due to so many close games.

“There hasn’t been a ton of swing and miss the last two games, but I’m getting early contact and that’s a recipe for going deeper into the game,” Rea said.

William Contreras provided a lift with one big swing

The Brewers weren’t getting much to hit from Pirates starter Rich Hill, even despite a command blip in the third inning from the veteran lefty.

But it turned out to be a missed call from home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski during that bit of wildness that gave the Brewers all they needed against Hill.

After Hill hit Raimel Tapia with one out in the third and walked Andruw Monasterio, Hill threw four pitches outside the zone to Contreras, but the third one was deemed a strike by Muchlinski.

Rather than jogging to first, Contreras had to stay in the batter’s box a bit longer.

Contreras extended that stay as he crushed a three-run home run to left-center and stopped to admire his work off the bat that had put the Brewers in front, 3-2.

“That’s one of those moments,” Contreras said. “You’re looking for good contact and you’re looking to do that every day. When you hit it, you know right away.”

A rare start results in a great game from Andruw Monasterio

Contreras was not alone in producing at the top of the Brewers order, but this time Christian Yelich wasn’t the one who, as usual, came through at the leadoff spot.

Monasterio was making his first career start batting leadoff, and it came so unexpectedly to him that he thought his teammates were messing with him when they told him about it Sunday morning.

“I didn’t believe it,” Monasterio said. “I didn’t see the lineup, so the guys had to tell me about it. ‘You’re leading off and DH.’ I thought they were joking with me.

“I took it like a normal day. I just came to the field and stayed ready. I got the opportunity so I took advantage of it.”

Opportunities have been few are far between for Monasterio in recent weeks. Sunday was just his third start since June 16 and he had all of 10 plate appearances over the last 15 days.

“I’m just here for whatever Craig Counsell says,” Monasterio said. “Be ready for anything and do whatever I can to help the team win.”

Monasterio did just that Sunday, scoring a run in the third after a walk, singling in the seventh and driving in a run with a double in the ninth.

Monasterio has been with the Brewers for more than a month now and no matter how much playing time he’s getting, there’s no question he’s enjoying every second of his first taste of the majors.

“It’s awesome,” Monasterio said. “This has been my dream since I was a child. I’m just enjoying it.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers come home tied for first in NL Central after long road trip