A good bullpen can make all the difference in a postseason run, and the Milwaukee Brewers have all the makings of an elite unit that’s peaking down the stretch in 2026.
The Brewers will look to win the decisive contest of a three-game series against the visiting Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon.
Minnesota won 8-6 in the series opener on Friday before Andrew Vaughn’s eighth-inning RBI single gave Milwaukee a 4-3 victory on Saturday night.
That win — the Brewers’ fourth in the past five contests — was the latest example of the Brewers’ stellar relief work, as Chad Patrick, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby and closer Trevor Megill did not allow a hit over a combined 4 1/3 shutout innings to close the game.
Uribe worked his 20th straight scoreless outing dating to June 20, and Ashby improved to 13-2 after tossing a 1-2-3 eighth inning, moving within one victory of Jim Slaton’s franchise record for wins by a reliever in a season.
Megill, who is 21-for-23 in save opportunities this season, called Saturday’s comeback victory “a little bit of Brewer baseball.”
The Brewers trailed 3-1 after three innings.
“Wins like that keep the season rolling in the right direction,” Megill said.
Even with all of the team’s standout relievers, the star attraction of the Milwaukee pitching staff still is right-hander Jacob Misiorowski (11-5, 1.63 ERA), who will start Sunday’s finale.
Misiorowski added to his MLB lead in strikeouts with 10 more in his start against the Los Angeles Angels last Sunday, allowing two runs in seven innings in a 3-0 loss. He has 195 strikeouts in 127 innings this season.
Misiorowski faced Minnesota in his second career start on June 20, 2025, taking a perfect game into the seventh inning as the Brewers breezed to a 17-6 victory. He allowed two runs through six innings while striking out six.
The Twins are three games back of the American League Central-leading Chicago White Sox and 1 1/2 games out of the last AL wild-card spot.
Rookie left-hander Connor Prielipp (3-5, 4.75 ERA) will make his 16th career start for Minnesota on Sunday.
It was an uneven performance for Prielipp in his last start on Aug. 1 against Seattle. It looked as if it could be an early night for the 25-year-old after he allowed three runs in the first two frames, but he held on to get through the remainder of his 5 1/3 innings unscathed. Prielipp earned a no-decision after the Twins scored a run apiece in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to tie the score before falling 4-3.
“He gave us a chance to win,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said after the game.
Shelton was blunt in his analysis of the start of Prielipp’s outing.
“Early on, [Connor] really struggled with his command — he was kind of all over the place. (But) he was able to get us into the sixth. He did a nice job settling down.”
Prielipp faced Milwaukee for the only time in his career on May 16. He lost 2-1 despite only giving up two runs (one earned) in six innings.
After marking his MLB debut with a home run on Friday, Twins shortstop Kaelen Culpepper may not look back on his second game as fondly. He was hit by a pitch on two occasions in Saturday’s loss.
–Field Level Media
