Brewers complete the sweep with 7-3 win over White Sox

Throughout the 2023 season, the Brewers’ combination of excellent bullpen play and not-so-excellent hitting has made them one of the best teams in one-run ballgames. Entering Sunday, the Brewers had the second-best record in baseball in one-run games, posting an impressive 24-10 record. That level of success gave them a chance to sweep the Chicago White Sox on Sunday, as they won the first two games by one run.

Sunday was a different story, however. Another quality start from Freddy Peralta and consistent hitting from the lineup top to bottom gave the Brewers some breathing room. The leaders of the NL Central started off the road trip with a sweep, defeating the Sox 7-3.

Both starting pitchers, Peralta for the Brewers and Dylan Cease for the White Sox, were effective early without utilizing the strikeout. Both were able to get outs on groundouts, which accounted for the first six outs of the game. The Brewers did break through in the second. Sal Frelick singled and advanced to third on a single from Willy Adames. He was then brought in when Mark Canha flew out to Gavin Sheets, who made a nice diving catch, allowing Frelick to come in and make it 1-0.

Peralta continued to use the strength of the Brewers defense to his advantage. Through four innings, Peralta had only two strikeouts but didn’t allow a runner to reach second base. It was a lot of groundouts and soft popouts that were the recipe for today’s game, including three popouts that didn’t leave the infield in the third inning.

The Brewers added some insurance runs in the fifth. Willy Adames led off the inning with a walk, and Mark Canha singled to quickly give them two on with no outs. Next up, Andruw Monasterio doubled to left field to drive in Adames. Now up 2-0 and with two men in scoring position, the Brewers were unable to increase the lead. Back-to-back popouts and an intentional walk to Christian Yelich loaded the bases for William Contreras. Contreras then ended the inning with a strikeout on a foul tip, keeping the score 2-0.

Peralta would exit after six innings of quality work. He gave up just four hits while striking out six. Abner Uribe took over and was just as effective. He came out of the bullpen and allowed just one hit and no runs. In the eighth inning, the Brewers further added to their lead thanks to a three-run home run from Carlos Santana. With a 5-0 lead, Andrew Chafin added a scoreless inning of his own.

In the ninth, the five-run lead became a seven-run lead when Christian Yelich drove in two with a single to left field. Yelich got on base three times while accounting for one run in addition to his two RBIs. In the bottom of the ninth, the White Sox showed their first signs of life on offense against J.C. Mejia. A single from Andrew Vaughn gave the Sox their first run. Zach Remillard singled and Elvis Andrus made it 7-3 with a single to center. A lineout from Andrew Benintendi ended the late rally, securing the 7-3 win for the Brewers.

The Brewers carry their 3.5-game lead into Los Angeles to start a three-game series against the Dodgers. The first pitch on Tuesday is at 9:10 p.m., Adrian Houser will get the start against Bobby Miller.