The Brewers were in the midst of a six-game slump and trailing Cincinnati 5-4 on Saturday when left-handed pitcher Josh Hader toed the rubber in the sixth inning.
Hader fanned the side in the sixth, struck out two more in the seventh and allowed just one hit in the eighth inning to quiet the Reds’ bats and allow the Crew to tie -- and later, win -- the game.
His dominant performance began a stretch of strong Brewers pitching that snapped the losing streak and initiated another surge for the Crew in their fight for the National League Central.
During the six game losing streak, opponents were hitting .302 against the Brewers. But Hader and the Milwaukee staff has been much improved the past four games, all wins by three or fewer runs.
| W-L (Pct) | 4-0 |
| ERA | 3.16 |
| Opp. Batting avg. | .230 |
| Opp. Slugging pct. | .363 |
| K/BB Ratio | 2.20 |
The pitching staff will be tested over the weekend as the Brewers begin an arduous road trip with a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies.
In four games against the Rockies this season, the Brewers pitchers have recorded 28 strikeouts and own a 3.50 ERA.
NOTABLE
-- Since 2015, Milwaukee is 3-3 at Coors Field with a .274 team batting average.
-- The Brewers lead Major League Baseball with 282 steals since 2016, which is 50 more than the No. 2 team, the Reds (232 stolen bases).
-- Home runs account for 29.7 percent of Eric Thames’ hits in 2017.
-- Colorado is the only team in MLB to have three players with at least 25 homers: Charlie Blackmon (28), Nolan Arenado (27) and Mark Reynolds (25).
Statistics courtesy STATS and MLB.com
