Brewers proving to be road warriors after yet another very successful three-city trip

ARLINGTON, Tex. – As far as road trips go, the Milwaukee Brewers' third and final three-city excursion could be classified as a rousing success.

Beginning last weekend, the Brewers swept the lowly Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field in a trio of close games.

Up next was a three-game sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a three-game set in which Milwaukee was completely shut down offensively.

Then came the finale this weekend, a three-game sweep of the mighty Texas Rangers that concluded with a 6-2 victory over Max Scherzer and featured a terrific mix of timely hitting and strong pitching.

No doubt, the Brewers' charter flight back to Milwaukee on Sunday night was a happy one.

"It's a baseball season," said manager Craig Counsell, whose team now holds a three-game lead over the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central Division and a four-game lead over the third-place Cincinnati Reds.

"We want it to be steady-as-it-goes, and sometimes it bounces up and down a little bit. But we played a good series, get to enjoy a day off and onto another tough challenge."

The Rangers came into the series leading the major leagues with a 42-21 home record. The Brewers departed with a 35-30 road record, with the 35 victories second-most in the National League and .538 winning percentage ranking third-best.

And for whatever reason, they've done their best work on these daunting three-city trips – the Brewers went 7-3 in April at Arizona, San Diego and Seattle and 7-3 again in June at Cleveland, the New York Mets and Pittsburgh.

"I'm not advocating for more three-city road trips," joked Counsell, who celebrates his 53rd birthday on Monday. His Brewers went 1-5 the last time they left home, being swept at Atlanta and then winning just one of three at lowly Washington.

"You won't get me to do that," he continued. "But it's good baseball. In the end, it's consistent baseball. You're going to have series where things don't go your way -- especially when you're playing really good baseball teams. Instead of having that affect the next game you move on, because that's what the game calls for and that's what a major-league season calls for."

Here are three takeaways from the victory.

Tyrone Taylor is a factor once again

A troublesome right elbow that led to missing all of spring training as well as two separate stints on the injured list combined with the storyline of rookies Joey Wiemer and Sal Frelick becoming big contributors left Tyrone Taylor as something of an afterthought on the roster.

But he bounced back in a big way on the road trip and in the Texas series especially, raising his batting average from .185 at the outset to .214 after his third two-hit game in the last four on Sunday.

Taylor, batting ninth and starting in center with Frelick sidelined by a sore hamstring, doubled, tripled and just missed a two-run home run. He also scored three runs, drove in a pair and drew a walk, proving to be the straw that stirred the drink against Scherzer.

"It's been a different Tyrone since he came back from the second injury stint," Counsell said. "Stuff wasn't necessarily falling, but I think he's back to that consistent player where you know what you're going to get from him. You know you're going to get great defense and some balls driven.

"He's doing a nice job in the nine spot."

Taylor got the Brewers going by drawing a one-out walk from Scherzer in the third inning, a plate appearance that led the way to a 2-0 lead, and, just as important, a 42-pitch effort in the frame that ultimately proved to be the veteran right-hander's undoing.

After scoring that run in the third, Taylor followed up with a two-out bloop double to right in the fourth. Christian Yelich followed up with a two-bagger of his own making it 3-1, and just like that Scherzer had been forced from the game.

Taylor saw his drive to center in the sixth caught on the warning track, but he rebounded in the eighth by hitting a two-run triple to right off Will Smith that increased Milwaukee's lead to 5-1. Three batters later, he came in to score on Carlos Santana's single to put the icing on the cake.

"Thanks, Couns," said Taylor after being informed of his skipper's comments. "I feel like it's just part of the game – the whole thing, the injuries. I just come here every day and do my best, put up the best swings and the best at-bats I can and sometimes they fall and sometimes they don't.

"I'm just going to continue to ride the wave and whatever happens, happens."

With veteran Mark Canha also in the mix in the outfield, Counsell figures to continue to mix and match him along with Taylor, Frelick and Wiemer as Yelich remains the regular in left.

At 12 years and counting Taylor is the longest-tenured member of the organization, having been a second-round pick out of high school in 2012.

He also remains a favorite in the clubhouse.

"He had a really great series for us here," Yelich said. "He did a really good job, so I'm happy for him. It's obviously tough when you're grinding like that and you've had injuries on and off throughout the year -- it just gets to be really frustrating sometimes.

"But he did a really good job battling and coming up big for us."

Saving his best for the big moments

Of Adrian Houser's five victories this season, two have come opposite Scherzer.

As a starting pitcher, it doesn't much better than besting the best in the game multiple times.

"It's awesome, because you know you're going to get a good game," said Houser when asked about matching up against 'Mad Max.' "That guy's a professional over there, a future Hall of Famer, and you know he's going to go out there and compete."

Houser (5-4) did a great job of bending but not breaking Sunday, with a third-inning homer by Corey Seager accounting for the lone run he surrendered over five innings and 82 pitches.

He induced surprisingly few ground balls with his trademark sinker but made up for it by striking out seven, his second-highest total of the season.

"That's what set this up," Counsell said of the victory, referring to Houser's start. "Lots of lefties in there – Seager and Lowe are excellent, excellent hitters – and he navigated through that. Especially in that third inning; I thought that impressive, and the strikeout of Lowe was a big at-bat."

Milwaukee's pitching staff had just one 1-2-3 inning all game against one of baseball's scariest offenses and it came via Houser's replacement, Trevor Megill, in the sixth.

"Trevor Megill got four huge outs," said Counsell. "We had some guys that were down today and we had to stay away from, and Trevor and all the bullpen guys did a heck of a job."

Considering how well Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta pitched in the first two games of the series, Houser more did his part as well despite being easily the most anonymous member of the rotation.

Devin Williams notches No. 30

Closer Devin Williams had to walk the high wire in closing out Friday's 9-8 victory, a game that never should have been as close as it ended up.

Barely anyone expected him to have to pitch Sunday with the Brewers holding a 6-1 lead.

But throwing errors by rookies Brice Turang and Andruw Monasterio combined with a walk of Seager by Bryse Wilson meant the Rangers, then within 6-2, had the potential tying run in the on-deck circle in the form of Mitch Garver.

So Counsell called upon Williams, who in turn needed only three pitches and a nice sliding catch in left from Yelich to rob Lowe of a hit and register save No. 30.

"I feel like that's a pretty big number," said Williams, named an all-star now for two straight seasons. He's tied for fifth in the majors and long ago blew past his previous career high of 15.

"If you've got 30 saves, that's a pretty good year. It's a benchmark, but we've got a lot more games to win so hopefully I can add onto that."

The three-pitch save was the first of Williams's career; he also had a three-pitch outing last Aug. 3 at Pittsburgh.

Williams has actually thrown only two pitches in a game once – on May 12, 2021, when he recorded one out and ultimately earned the win against the St. Louis Cardinals.

"I would take a (one-pitch) save also," he said. "I'm just trying to get it over with as quick as I can."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers are road warriors after third winning three-city trip