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Potent Brew: The weirdest best team in baseball

Six weeks and one day to go in Major League Baseball’s regular season, and a lot of things are not going the way we thought they’d be going. At the top of that list? The Brewers are the winningest team, and not by a little. Now winners of 13 in a row after a huge comeback last night in Cincinnati, the Brewers are six wins ahead of MLB’s next-closest team, Toronto.

Milwaukee being competitive isn’t news after six postseason appearances in seven years. This is a bit shocking, though. The Brewers saw Willy Adames (their second most valuable hitter in 2024) leave in free agency, traded away elite closer Devin Williams and did not make anything resembling a splashy offseason addition.

And yet: A couple of old rookie hitters (28-year-old Isaac Collins and 25-year-old Caleb Durbin) have generated nearly five WAR, per FanGraphs. White Sox washout Andrew Vaughn has cosplayed as Aaron Judge since becoming a Brewer on June 13.

The pitching success stories are also plentiful. Jacob Misiorowski got roughed up yesterday in his return from the injured list, but he’s been a sensation when healthy. Soon-to-be 27-year-old Chad Patrick has been the most valuable rookie pitcher in the National League by FanGraphs WAR, and he’s not even in the majors for the moment. After getting a taste of the closer role last year, Trevor Megill has been great. Helping all of these pitchers: a defense that led baseball in fielding run value entering the weekend.

As a fan of a wildly incompetent NL Central team, I find the Brewers’ ability to find wins in the couch cushions (and deliver free burgers to their fans) infuriating. The Cubs, now nine back, probably do too.

Milwaukee is the uplifting surprise right now. Here are some that are more downbeat: 

  • The Dodgers really could lose the NL West. I don’t think they will, but the Padres entered their weekend series at Dodger Stadium up by a game (L.A. won last night). The Dodgers’ pitcher health is endlessly sketchy, and Mookie Betts may have plunged headlong into his decline phase. The Padres are doing lots of things well.
  • Uh, the Tigers might lose the AL Central, too. Again, I don’t think this is going to happen. But their lead was 14 games on July 8 and is 7.5 now. The lurking Guardians look a bit like last year’s Tigers, who stormed into the playoffs late.
  • The Yankees have gone from an AL East sure thing to a Wild Card scrapper. The Blue Jays are tracking to win that division by a lot. Over the last month up to this weekend, the Yankees — deadline pickups and all — are 25th in ERA and 23rd in FIP.

Tense times for many. But not, I emphasize, for the Brewers.

News to Know

NCAA imposes Michigan punishments

The NCAA’s Committee on Infractions announced Michigan’s punishments for former staffer Connor Stalions’ sign-stealing operation yesterday. While the Wolverines were hit with unprecedented fines and coach Sherrone Moore was given a one-game suspension, the school avoided a postseason ban. The explanation? “The panel determined that a postseason ban would unfairly penalize student athletes for the actions of coaches and staff who are no longer associated with the Michigan football program.” Hmmm. The real reason is more complicated than that. Stewart Mandel’s column on Michigan’s reputational hit throughout this whole ordeal is worth a read.

EPL opener paused after racial abuse

Liverpool and Bournemouth opened the Premier League season yesterday, but the game was briefly paused in the first half after Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo reported racial abuse from a fan in the stands. Semenyo went on to score two second-half goals despite the defending champs emerging victorious. Read our full report on another incident of racism in European soccer.

More news

  • Orioles pitcher Brandon Young took a perfect game into the eighth inning before an infield single ended his bid for perfection.

  • The rankings of the players in the semifinals of the men’s singles draw at the Cincinnati Open: No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 136. Wait, what?! More on the unbelievable run of 23-year-old Terence Atmane, who faces Jannik Sinner this afternoon.

  • On the women’s side of the draw, American Coco Gauff was bounced in the quarterfinals last night in an upset defeat. Gauff’s serve is completely broken right now.

  • Lionel Messi is expected to return to action for Inter Miami tonight after missing two weeks with an injury. A sigh of relief for MLS.

  • The NFL will continue to feature social justice slogans in end zones this season. More here.

Watch Guide

📺 EPL: Wolves vs. Manchester City 

12:30 p.m. ET on NBC 

Yeah, soccer is back. Actually, there is just always soccer now. This new season will be a full 11 months for many Premier League players.

📺 NFL: Browns at Eagles 

1 p.m. ET on NFL Network 

Give the Browns this: Their four- or five-headed quarterback creation makes them an oddly compelling team to watch in the second week of the preseason. Injuries to some of those QBs may pose a game management challenge here.

📺 MLB: Yankees at Cardinals 

7:15 p.m. ET on Fox 

Max Fried and his 2.94 ERA aren’t among the Yankees’ biggest problems, but New York needs better than Fried’s line in seven starts since July 1: 36 innings, a 6.00 ERA and 4.33 FIP. Fried hasn’t worked deep into games, and the Yankees have lost on five of those seven days.

Pulse Picks

The Athletic’s investigative team wrapped up its series on sports’ escalating stalking problem yesterday. If you missed any of these stories this week, I highly recommend making some time for them this weekend:

  • Carson Kessler penned a haunting overview of the issue Tuesday, featuring the account of a 19-year-old who became obsessed with UCLA women’s basketball star Kiki Rice. These stories are frightening.
  • Nathan Fenno revealed how one of the scariest men to ever play football, Aaron Donald, was left feeling powerless when a stalker threatened his family. It went on for years.
  • Charlie Eccleshare took us back to the epicenter of sports stalking: women’s tennis. The Monica Seles story will always be horrifying.
  • Gabby Herzig and Kessler examined the other side of sports stalking, when fans get catfished by people they think is their favorite famous athlete. The effects can be devastating.
  • To close out the series, Alex Andrejev recapped all 52 reported stalking incidents in sports since 2020. The actual number is probably much higher.

I turned into a bicycle guy this week. So much more fun than running. Tour de Branch coming soon. — Chris Branch

“National Geographic Kids” is legit enjoyable … for adults (too)! You know koalas sleep 22 hours a day and Jupiter has 92 moons? You do now, brah. — Chris Sprow

I can’t wait to watch Spike Lee’s latest at a theater this weekend. His new film “Highest 2 Lowest” is a remake of one of my all-time favorites, Kurosawa’s 1963 film “High and Low.” Throw in that I’ve got season tickets to whenever Spike and Denzel collaborate, especially when there’s a heist involved. — Noah Chestnut

Rewatched “Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning” on a flight recently, and wow that movie hits. It got some mixed reviews when it came out, but it’s near the top tier of MI movies, which is a high bar to clear. The airplane stunt/scene alone is an all-timer. Give it a rewatch if you’ve seen it. If you haven’t seen them, watch them all. Even the horrible second one. — Zach Harper

One of my colleagues at Wirecutter recently waxed poetic in our daily newsletter, The Recommendation, about this 2004 train game. She called it “a board game for people who don’t like board games,” and I’m eyeing it to get me through these last weeks of summer. — Brittney Ho

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Michael Phelps’ harsh words on the state of USA Swimming.

Most-read on the website yesterday: The catfishing story.

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(Top photo: John Fisher / Getty Images)