It ended sooner than many had hoped or expected, but the 2024 MLB season still left behind plenty of memories—good, bad and weird—that will live on in the annals of Brewers franchise history. In the second part of our recap of the 2024 season, we look at the moments I’ve added to the “Today in Wisconsin baseball history” calendar since July 1. Part 1 of the series, covering events in the season’s first half, can be found here.
July 5 – Will Smith Slaps Brewers
He’s not the former Brewer who has played on three consecutive World Series champions, but Dodgers catcher Will Smith is pretty good too. He was especially good on this day, when he became just the 13th player ever and the first in over two years to hit three home runs in a game against the Brewers.
Many three-homer games come in blowouts, but Smith’s was exceptionally impactful: His three shots gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead, a 2-0 lead and tied the game at 5. Seven of Smith’s 111 career home runs have come against the Brewers.
July 11 – Meet a New Nemesis
Former #1 overall pick Paul Skenes’ MLB debut with the Pirates was one of Pittsburgh’s biggest stories this season, and his first game against the Brewers lived up to the hype: The former #1 overall pick pitched seven no-hit innings in his American Family Field debut. The Brewers did eventually get a hit off reliever Colin Holderman but the Pirates went on to win the game 6-0.
July 16 – Two Starters in Texas
Just 22 Brewers have ever started an All Star Game but two of them did it in 2024: Christian Yelich, selected by the fans for his first Midsummer Classic since 2019, joined Robin Yount, Ryan Braun, and Prince Fielder as the only Brewers to start the game multiple times, and William Contreras, who was making his second appearance overall and his first as a Brewer. Contreras grounded out to former teammate Corbin Burnes in the top of the first inning, and the duo combined to go 0-for-4 as the only Brewers to appear in the game.
July 20 – Knocked Down Twice, Got Up Three Times
The first game back from the All Star break started like a pitcher’s duel but got wild late: The Brewers took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth in Minnesota but the Twins rallied to tie the game against the bullpen. The game went to extras and the Brewers appeared poised to take it with two more runs in the top of the eleventh, but gave up two more to extend it once again. Finally, the Crew’s bats exploded for five runs in the top of the 12th and this time they were able to hold on for an 8-4 victory. It was only the 19th time in franchise history and the first time in three years the Brewers had blown two saves in a game they went on to win anyway.
July 23 – Yelich’s Last Game
The good news on this night was the fact that the Brewers stayed hot on the road, beating the Cubs 1-0 on a three-single inning in the top of the eighth. The bad news came later that same inning, when Christian Yelich was lifted for a pinch hitter due to a back injury. The next day news came out that Yelich was headed off to see a specialist to determine his next steps, and a few weeks later he underwent season-ending surgery. Yelich batted .315 with a .406 on-base and .504 slugging in 73 games in 2024, his best rate stats since 2019, but would be unavailable for the stretch run and postseason.
July 28 – The Xavier Edwards Cycle
Hitting for the cycle is one of the flukier celebrated accomplishments in all of sports, and the list of players who have done it against the Brewers is perfect evidence of that. When Marlins shortstop Xavier Edwards hit a ninth inning infield single on this day he joined that unlikely list in just his 55th MLB game. He had four hits in the contest and his Marlins teammates managed just three others, however, and the Brewers won 6-2.
Perhaps more notably, Edwards’ single in the ninth inning came off closer Devin Williams. This was Williams’ first MLB appearance of the season after he missed most of the first four months with a back issue.
August 8 – Chourio Doubles Up
2024 featured an entire genre of Jackson Chourio fun facts built around the template of “Jackson Chourio is the youngest player to (verb) since (Hall of Famer),” but sometimes he took it one step further and was simply the youngest ever to do an amazing thing. On this day, for example, he hit a two run home run in the second inning as the Brewers routed Braves starting pitcher Charlie Morton, then another in the fifth as the Brewers continued to pile on. At 20 years and 150 days old, Chourio was the youngest Brewer ever to hit two homers in a game and he was more than a year younger than the previous record holder (Billy Joe Robidoux as a 21-year-old in 1985).
August 10 – Another Day, Another Hoskins Hit
For much of the 2024 season Rhys Hoskins was the kind of all-or-nothing slugger not often seen anymore: He connected for 40 extra base hits and just 56 singles during the regular season and batted .214 but slugged .419. For a few weeks in July and August, however, he was one of the Brewers’ most consistent regulars.
Hoskins supplied all the power in this game, hitting a solo home run in a 1-0 victory over the Reds. Perhaps more notably, however, that homer gave him a hit in 14 consecutive games. It was the longest streak by a Brewer in 2024, and he batted .327 with a .362 on-base and .654 slugging over that span.
August 20 – Running Away With It
The Brewers went 19-9 in August, their best month of the season, headlined by one of their best hot streaks: A 3-2 win over the Cardinals on this night was their sixth in a row, and it coincided with the rest of the Central falling back a bit. After this night’s games the Brewers were 11 ½ games up on the rest of the division, their largest lead of the season and the second largest in franchise history (only the 2021 team had a bigger lead at 14 games).
August 25 – So Long, Oakland
They hadn’t been there often since moving to the National League in 1999, but the Oakland Coliseum is still one of the most-visited ballparks in Brewers franchise history, and Robin Yount racked up 104 career hits there. As such, it was fitting that the Brewers made one final trip to Oakland during what appears likely to be MLB’s final season in the city. The Brewers took the series but dropped the finale on a Sunday afternoon, giving them an all-time record of 71-111 in that facility.
August 30 – Long Day, Big Inning
The Brewers wrapped up their best month by winning three out of four games in Cincinnati, including both ends of a doubleheader on this Friday. The first game was a nail-biter, as the Brewers plated the zombie runner in the top of the tenth and held on for a 5-4 victory. The second game was less dramatic, although the Brewers still only led 4-0 heading to the top of the ninth.
The Brewers wrapped up that day, however, with an inning for the history books. With none on and one out they proceeded to have ten of the next eleven batters reach, with the only exception being a sac fly. The Brewers continued to pile on even after the Reds ran out of pitchers and sent catcher Luke Maile to the mound. When the dust settled they had scored ten runs in the inning and went on to win 14-0.
September 2 – Adames Does It Again
Willy Adames homered in both halves of the aforementioned doubleheader and all four games in Cincinnati overall, setting the stage for a historic conclusion to his hot streak at home. Adames homered again, this time a three-run shot, in the series opener against the Cardinals in Milwaukee and tied a franchise record by going deep in five consecutive games. He’s the third Brewer to do it, joining Jeromy Burnitz in 1997 and Eric Thames in 2017.
That wasn’t the only record he matched that day, however. This was also Adames’ 13th three-run shot of the season, tying an MLB record. The only other player in MLB history to hit 13 three-run homers in a season was Hall of Famer Ken Griffey, Jr., who did it in a season where he hit 49 home runs overall in 1996.
September 12 – 20/20 Vision for Chourio
The Jackson Chourio fun facts came fast and furious in the regular season’s final month, but the best one might have come on this day: With an eighth inning home run Chourio reached 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases for the season, becoming the third major leaguer ever to do that in his age 20 campaign.
September 14 – More Records for Adames
August and September featured some of Adames’ last opportunities to demonstrate his value before he hits free agency this winter, and he probably made himself some money with a major hot streak. Over a span of 21 games from August 23 through this day he batted .284 with a .348 on-base and .667 slugging and connected for ten home runs, including two in this 15-8 win over the Diamondbacks.
Those home runs set yet another Brewers franchise record: The second home run was his 32nd as a shortstop this season, eclipsing the mark he set when he went deep 31 times while playing that position in 2022.
September 18 – Champions Once Again
The Brewers’ magic number to clinch their second consecutive NL Central championship dwindled quickly in mid-September as the Brewers continued to pick up wins but the Cubs faltered, losing seven of eleven at one point. In the end the final blow came in Chicago, as the Cubs dropped a day game to the A’s and were mathematically eliminated. The Brewers went on to win in a walkoff that night, however, and a champagne celebration ensued.
September 22 – Back from the Brink
For a few days after they clinched the NL Central it seemed like the Brewers might be content to rest their regulars, take it easy for the season’s final weeks and wait and see what October would bring. That all changed in a hurry, however, in the late innings of a Sunday game against the Diamondbacks.
Frankie Montas had a disaster start on this day, allowing seven runs in the third inning and tying the Brewers to an 8-0 deficit. Five relievers held the Diamondbacks to just one run the rest of the way, however, and the Brewers bats went to work with a run in the third, two in the fourth, one in the sixth, two in the seventh and four in the eighth to come all the way back to take a 10-9 lead. Devin Williams worked around a walk in the ninth and the Brewers snatched back a victory that would go on to haunt the Diamondbacks, as they were eventually forced to wait for the outcome of a Mets/Braves Monday doubleheader and missed the postseason on a tiebreaker.
September 24 – 20/20 For a Second Time
The Brewers didn’t have much left to play for as they headed to Pittsburgh to open the season’s final week, but they didn’t take their foot off the gas: In the top of the second inning of this game Willy Adames ran out an infield single and stole second, reaching 20 steals on the season for the first time in his career. 2024 was the first season ever where the Brewers had a pair of 20/20 players, with Adames joining Chourio in that club.
September 27 – A Return to Slam Town
The final home series of the regular season featured a notable imbalance in stakes, as the Brewers were locked into postseason position while the Mets had work to do to clinch a spot. That didn’t keep the Brewers from running away early in grand fashion, however: Rhys Hoskins’ grand slam in the bottom of the first inning was his third of the season and the Brewers’ tenth, matching a franchise record.
October 2 – Saving the Season
Down 1-0 in the series, the Brewers went to the bottom of the eighth inning with their backs against the wall. They trailed 3-2 with just six outs left to work with and their season on the line, but they wouldn’t need all of them: Jackson Chourio led off the inning with a game-tying home run, his second of the game, and Garrett Mitchell followed with a two-run shot to give the Brewers the lead and extend the Brewers’ playoff run for another day.
October 3 – Heartbreak
With the other Wild Card series wrapped up, the Brewers and Mets had the baseball stage to themselves on Thursday night. They responded with a game for the ages with an unforgettable finish.
For just the fourth time in MLB history a winner-take-all playoff game was scoreless going into the seventh inning but the Brewers took and expanded a lead on back-to-back pitches in the bottom of that frame as Jake Bauers and Sal Frelick hit home runs to right field and give the Brewers a 2-0 lead with six outs left to get.
The Mets responded in the top of the ninth, however, as Francisco Lindor walked, Brandon Nimmo singled and, with one out, Mets slugger Pete Alonso silenced the American Family Field crowd with a go-ahead home run off Devin Williams. Jesse Winker added insult to injury by getting hit by a pitch, stealing second, and scoring on a Starling Marte single and the Mets went on to win 4-2, ending the Brewers’ season.
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